The Serpent's Warning
by Ardna
Summary: A Goa'uld database brings SG-1 to a chamber underneath Stonehenge, and into a universe of trouble! Spies and madmen lurk amid the ranks of their allies, and a warning speaks from the walls: Beware of the Pandorica. COMPLETE.
1. Prologue: Seven Symbols

**A\N:** So that you know, this story takes place in between 5x03 _Ascension_ and 5x04 _The Fifth Man_ of Stargate, and sort of during 5x12 _The Pandorica Opens_ and 5x13 _The Big Bang_.

**~!~!~!**

Sam knelt down beside the fallen man and carefully rolled him over to see his wound. Orlin stared up, his eyes clouded with pain, breathing unevenly.

"I can't believe how much this hurts," he whispered.

"Just hang on," Sam told him.

"Major, we gotta get out of here," Colonel Reynolds called, watching the overloading naquadah generator with open fear.

"We can't dial out, we can't risk the blast wave translating through the wormhole," Sam said to the man, looking up from Orlin.

Reynolds expression was panicked, and he looked up at the storming sky as thunder rolled.

"I have to go, Sam."

Sam looked back down at Orlin as he spoke. His eyes were still vague as he looked up at the dark clouds.

Orlin lifted his hand to gently caress Sam's face. Sam took the hand and held it there, against her cheek. Orlin's gaze cleared, and he looked up at Sam.

"The Others are giving me another chance," he said.

The grief and pain was clear in Orlin's eyes, tearing into Sam's already breaking heart.

"It's the only way that I can save you," Orlin said softly.

Sam's fingers tightened around Orlin's. She couldn't speak.

Orlin's body collapsed into bright light, long glowing fronds extending from a central mass. The hand Sam so desperately clung to dematerialized, and she grasped at nothing.

Orlin, ascended once more, slowly drifted up. Sam watched him, bewildered and sad, her tears fighting to release themselves. Orlin floated towards the naquadah generator, but then stopped and went back to Sam.

A long ribbon of light reached out and touched her face in the softest way, in the same place Orlin's hand had just been, and Sam heard Orlin's voice.

_Thank you, Sam. For everything._

Seven symbols flashed before Sam's eyes. Stargate symbols.

_You must go here, Sam. It's important, _Orlin told her._ Remember these symbols._

Orlin seemed to hesitate before wrapping his long tendrils of light around Sam, filling her with warmth. He sounded very unhappy as he told her, _You will never see me again, Sam._

Orlin drifted away from her with a sad farewell, taking the naquadah generator and flying up into the sky.

The generator detonated, lighting up the sky with a white flash, and Sam and Colonel Reynolds' team leaped back as blue bolts of lightning struck from the sky, obliterating Orlin's weapon.

Sam stared up at the sky as the clouds miraculously cleared, showing the gleaming sun. One would never have guessed that anything was wrong.

Sam felt numb as she sat there on the floor. She blinked at the faint outlines of the 'Gate coordinates that seemed to float in front of her.

The Major had no way of knowing what they were going to lead her to.


	2. The Warning

"Amazing."

The archeologist turned in a half-circle, holding his lantern high.

"The Goa'uld database was right—there _is_ a chamber beneath Stonehenge!"

The man's companion, an older fellow carrying a gun, looked at his bespectacled friend irritably.

"Daniel," he said, "I'm sure that this is very thrilling, but couldn't we be doing something _better_ with our time off? Like having _fun_?" His head tilted to the side. "Do you know what fun is, Daniel? It's not what we're doing right now."

Dr. Daniel Jackson sighed.

He'd been hearing his friend's complaints the entire trip from Cheyenne Mountain, and he was getting more than a little tired of listening to basically the same thing over and over.

"Jack, I know you'd rather be out fishing right now," he said, "But I wasn't the one who decided that all of us had to come. That was General Hammond's choice."

"Well, he coulda chose someone else," Col. Jack O'Neill muttered.

Daniel stopped and pointed.

"Look: a door."

"It's 'doors', Daniel. Look: doors."

Daniel gave him a look and walked over to the doors. Jack started to follow but stopped when a voice crackled through his radio.

"Colonel? How's it going down there?"

Jack lifted a hand to his radio and responded:

"Oh, fine, Carter. Just finished coming down a great big honkin' staircase, and Daniel's found some doors. How are things on your end?"

"Well, the tourists actually aren't causing any problems. However, the hippies are being a bit persistent."

"You could always come down here."

"No, thank you, Sir. I'm sure you and Daniel have got everything covered."

Jack considered calling Major Samantha Carter a wuss, but decided against it.

"Check in every half hour, Major," he said, "And keep an eye on those UNIT guys."

"Yes, Sir."

"Jack?"

The Colonel bit back a sigh and turned to join Daniel in this monumental waste of time.

The archeologist had taken a thick plank off of the doors, and was now looking at Jack almost expectantly, a hand clasping one of the great doors' handles.

Jack glanced down at the board, commenting in his dry way ("Yep, definitely where the Gou'ald would keep their worst enemy"), and then carelessly shoved open the doors.

Before the duo was a dusty, cobwebbed chamber. In the center of it stood a large box.

Jack raised his eyebrows.

"O-kay."

He looked over at Dr. Jackson. Daniel's eyes were wide with wonder, and he walked into the room as though in a trance.

He glanced over at the box for a mere second, and then proceeded directly to the chamber's walls. The ancient stone was covered with alien script of many, many different kinds.

Daniel's fingers ran across the engraved surface, his eyes drinking in the strange letters and symbols.

These were the languages of entire civilizations he'd never even heard of, and here they were, right at his fingertips.

Amazing.

Daniel began walking, his gaze searching the various alien texts.

"Goa'uld should be in here somewhere… Ah!"

He stopped, his hand hovering over a particular language. Goa'uld.

Jack approached the mysterious box, his curiosity growing.

The cube was close to his height, its surface a deep black and its sides engraved with peculiar designs.

Jack reached out to touch the strange object.

"I wouldn't do that, Jack."

O'Neill's hand jerked back, and he looked over at Daniel. The archeologist had turned away from the wall and was staring at Jack gravely.

"What?" Jack demanded

"It's a warning," said Daniel.

He looked at the walls.

"All of these languages probably say the same thing," he mused, "A message telling anyone who might come here to stay away."

"Daniel."

Doctor Jackson turned back to Colonel O'Neill.

"What does it say?"

Daniel looked at the wall, then back at Jack.

"It says, 'Beware of the Pandorica'."


	3. Conversations

A blonde woman walked among the mass columns of rock that made the renowned Stonehenge. Being a 'theoretical' astrophysicist, archeology wasn't exactly her passion, but she still felt an almost overpowering sense of awe as she gazed at the ancient stones.

She stopped walking, her internal clock telling her that it had been about half an hour since her two teammates had gone beneath Stonehenge.

She turned on her radio.

"Colonel? How's it going down there?"

She smiled as the dry tones of her commanding officer came out of the radio speaker.

"Oh, fine, Carter. Just finished coming down a great big honkin' staircase, and Daniel's found some doors. How are things on your end?"

Major Samantha Carter resumed walking as she replied,

"Well, the tourists actually aren't causing any problems. However, the hippies are being a bit persistent."

"You could always come down here."

Sam jerked to a halt and hastily responded, "No, thank you, Sir. I'm sure you and Daniel have got everything covered."

She waited apprehensively for the inevitable insult that she was bound to receive from her colonel, so she was pleasantly surprised when he gave her an order instead.

"Check in every half hour, Major. And keep an eye on those UNIT guys."

Carter smiled. Colonel Jack O'Neill, suspicious to the end.

"Yes, Sir."

Of course, Sam thought as she once again resumed her walk, Colonel O'Neill had plenty of reason to be cautious.

The British government had agreed to let American soldiers to seal off one of their main tourist attractions so readily, it was downright freaky! And they hadn't asked for anything in return, either.

Their one condition had been that no more than five Americans came, and fifteen men from UNIT would accompany them.

The American diplomats had been so stunned; all they could do was accept!

But Colonel O'Neill was suspicious, and Sam agreed with his misgivings. It had been too easy.

Governments just don't give assent so readily; there had to be a catch somewhere.

Sam froze as her reverie was broken by the sound of strange voices. She ducked behind one of the pillars, and an old man, maybe in his late sixties, walked past her and proceeded towards a young man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties.

Sam didn't move a muscle as she watched the two men converse. Perhaps this is what the Colonel meant when he told her to "keep an eye on those UNIT guys".

"Private," the older man acknowledged the younger.

"Sir!"

The Private saluted, beaming with excitement.

"Interesting day today, isn't it, Private?"

"Yes, Sir, Brigadier, it is!"

The Private's grin grew wider.

"Must be a bit like the old days, eh, Sir?"

The Brigadier sighed wistfully.

"Yes, it is," he agreed with a small smile, "We had alien invasions every week back then, everything from living plastic to giant maggots. Ah, those were the days."

That made Sam's ears prick. Living plastic? Giant maggots?

_Alien invasions_?

Just who were these people?

"Aye, Sir, I bet, Sir."

The Brigadier chuckled.

"Now all we need to make this experience complete is The Doctor," he said.

The Private smiled as he nodded in agreement.

"Aye, Sir. The Doctor."


	4. Probation

Two men sat down at a table inside of one of the several tents that had been erected by Stonehenge.

One was a young man, clean-shaven and wearing the dark blue uniform of an Air Force officer, the other was a far older fellow with a pencil mustache, clad in the dark green of UNIT.

Both men examined each other, trying to size up the other man's strengths and weaknesses. Neither man learned much, for both were quite experienced at this game.

The man from UNIT began the conversation.

"So, Major," he said, "I hear you work at the Pentagon."

Major Paul Davis nodded.

"That's true," he confirmed.

"I understand that you wanted to talk to me about something, Major."

"Yes, I do, General," said Major Davis, "I wish to speak with you regarding the number of people you've permitted us to take on this… excavation."

General Wesley Price smirked.

_Excavation? I may be old, but I am by no means thick!_

"What about it?" he asked.

"You have three times as many people as we do."

"And this doesn't seem fair to you."

"No, it doesn't. It's unacceptable."

"Last I checked it's my country's turf you're have your little excavation on. We're the ones who make the rules here."

The Major leaned forward almost unperceptively.

"Yes, that's true. There are millions of people living in Britain, are there not?"

"Yes."

"So there are five of us, and millions of you."

"Your point being, Major?"

"Your terms are outrageous."

The General leaned forward as well, but he made no attempt to hide his action.

"And what are you going to do about it, Major?" he asked softly.

"I am going to request that you allow five more people from our organization to join us here."

"Do you take me for a fool, Major?" General Price demanded, "I'm not going to let you bring in five more trigger-happy Black Operations men like your Colonel O'Neill!"

"I'm not asking for _soldiers_, General, I'm asking for scientists."

"We have scientists, Major. Millions of us, remember?"

"Scientists who know what they're dealing with."

"Are you saying that my people are idiots, Major?"

"No, I'm saying that your people don't have experience."

"Then give them some."

"It's not that simple, General."

"You have fourteen men at your disposal, Major!"

"I have fourteen men who are either too old to serve or too young to even know what they're doing!" Major Davis snapped.

"You have the best of UNIT!" Price bellowed.

"If that's your best I'd really hate to see your worst!" Davis shouted back.

The two officers glared at each other. Sometime during the argument both men had risen to their feet and were now staring at one another tensely.

Suddenly General Price began to laugh.

"I'm sorry," he said in response to the Major's bewildered look, "I'm not the best negotiator in the world, but then what military man is?" He smiled apologetically as he continued, "My friends tell me I have a terrible knack for getting on people's nerves."

"They're not wrong," said Major Davis, starting to relax.

The General chuckled.

"So it would seem.

"I really did mean what I said, Major. UNIT's resources are at your disposal."

"Thank you, General, but I meant what I said, too. We need to have scientists with past experience."

A high-pitched shrieking interrupted their conversation.

General Price walked away from the table and took the steaming kettle off the stove.

"Tea?" he asked the Major.

"No, thank you."

The General nodded and reached into a box, pulling out a cup for his drink.

"How about this," he said as he poured the steaming water into his mug, "We do a joint effort; three of my scientists, three of yours. You can even have two of your Black Operations blokes come along."

"If?"

Price glanced over at the Pentagon man and chuckled.

"You're a lot better at this game than I am, Major," he said, "My request is simple. Tell me about Area 52."

Davis stared at him in silent shock.

"Don't look so surprised, Major," General Price chastised the officer, "You of all people should know that secret organizations are never as secret as they like to think they are."

"How much do you know?"

"Enough to want to learn the rest."

The USAF officer was silent.

"Those are my terms, Major. Heck, you can bring in _ten_ more people, and have all of UNIT's available resources at your disposal. All I want is to be in the know about your Area 52, and I want the full truth and nothing less. That's all; take it or leave it."

Paul hesitated.

"You're not asking an easy thing," he said.

"You weren't asking an easy thing when you requested to seal off Stonehenge to look for an underground chamber."

"You do have a point there."

"I don't know about you, but I think that this is a very fair deal."

"Reasonably so: yes."

"Then we have an agreement?"

"I'll have to talk to my superiors."

Wesley smiled as he took a sip of his tea.

"Sounds good to me."


	5. An Accident

**A\N:** I figured I should put something up here, just as an FYI.

I tend to use a fair amount of original characters in my stories, so I've compiled a list of characters: what their names are, what show they're from, whether they're original characters or not. The list is NOT on Fanfiction, and I can't post a link up here, but if you're interested, just give me a shout and I'll tell you where to look.

Okay, now you can get on with the story.

**~!~!~!**

A tall, dark-skinned man surveyed the scene before him.

The force of warriors from the Tauri organization UNIT troubled him. Five of the men were old, and he had long since learned that old men of the Tauri were feebler than old men of the Jaffa. The other ten men were far younger and more able-bodied than the first five, but they were greatly inexperienced.

His commander had made no effort to conceal his disdain when the UNIT soldiers had joined them. Apparently the Tauri did not consider people below a certain age capable warriors.

But the age of these men was not what concerned the Jaffa. He was a good judge of character, and he was almost impossible to fool.

The young men were undoubtedly inexperienced, and the older ones were definitely past the age when they could do battle, but all carried an air of expectancy about them; as though they were waiting for something… or someone.

The Jaffa also got the feeling that these Tauri had a secret-one they were not willing to share with the people of Stargate Command.

One of the young UNIT soldiers walked past him and struck him on the shoulder with a smile.

"Hey there, Mr. Murray," he said cheerfully, "How ya likin' the view?" He looked around. "Kinda rocky, ain't it?" He chuckled. "Get it? _Rocky_? We're standing in the middle a' Stonehenge!"

'Murray' stared at the Tauri. The younger man held his gaze for a moment before looking away with a nervous sigh.

"Man, if it weren't for your color, I'd mistake you for one of the rocks!"

'Murray' continued to stare at him.

The Tauri shuffled nervously and looked down at his watch.

"Oh, it's almost time for my shift! Gotta go!"

He flashed a smiled at the Jaffa.

"Nice, uh, nice talkin' to ya, Mr. Murray."

He began walking away, punching 'Murray' again-but in the stomach, not on the shoulder.

The Jaffa doubled over in pain, clutching abdomen. The Goa'uld symbiote writhed, screaming its protest.

The young Tauri stopped and turned around, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" He moved closer. "I am so sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"Go," the Jaffa gasped.

The Tauri froze.

"Uh, Mr. Murray?"

He pointed at the Jaffa.

"Your stomach's squealing."

"Leave me," Teal'c growled.

The man ignored him and stepped closer.

"Stomachs aren't supposed to squeal, last time I checked."

He reached out with his hand.

"You hidin' something, Mr. Murray?"

Teal'c grabbed the man's arm and twisted it painfully behind his back.

"Cease with your questions!" he ordered.

The blood drained from the young Tauri's face, giving him a terrified appearance.

"Um, Mr. Murray?" he whispered, "That actually kinda hurts, you know. Like really a lot."

"Hey!"

Another young man ran up to them.

"Ye leave Hodges alone! Honestly, what is with ye?"

"He would not cease with his questions," said Teal'c.

"I don't care what Hodges wouldn't cease with-ye let him go!" the man retorted angrily.

Teal'c released the UNIT soldier. He joined his comrade, rubbing his sore arm.

Suddenly he grinned.

"Higgie, you owe me fifteen quid," he informed his friend.

"Huh?"

The Tauri pointed at Teal'c.

"That guy's got a squealing stomach," he said, "Or should I say, 'he's got something that squeals squealing in his stomach'? Or maybe I should just say: 'he's an alien'!"


	6. Queer Objects

"'Beware the Pandorica'?" Jack repeated blankly.

"Well, I could be pronouncing it wrong," Daniel said as he turned back to the ancient text, "It could be PandorEEca, for all I know; or PandorAIca. Maybe even-"

"Daniel."

The archeologist silenced himself, facing the Colonel.

"What does it mean?"

"Well," Daniel faced the wall again, "It's a warning, obviously. The Pandorica, judging from these symbols here, is that box-" he pointed at the object that had piqued Jack's curiosity earlier. "-and apparently whatever's inside is very dangerous."

"What makes you say that?" Jack asked, not particularly curious but feeling he should voice the question anyway.

Daniel gave him a surprised glance, as if he hadn't actually anticipated the Colonel's stupidity.

"Jack, these walls are _covered_ in alien languages," he said, waving his arms for emphasis, "That's hundreds, maybe even _thousands_ of different very advanced species all saying the same thing!"

Daniel then began to ramble on about something that was probably important, but Jack was no longer listening.

His boot had accidently bumped something that had lain hidden beneath the dust, so he bent over and picked it up.

Whatever it was, it wasn't very large, not even the size of the knife that was a part of Jack's gear, and it fit nicely into his hand. There were a few buttons along its metallic side, and on one end, the top, Jack assumed, had strange prongs that joined together at the tip, and at the center of these tips was a light which was off at the moment.

"Well, that's odd," Jack commented, interrupting Daniel mid-twenty-letter-word.

His teammate turned away from the all-important wall of script and stared at the strange object in O'Neill's hand.

"What's that?" he asked.

Jack shrugged.

"Dunno," he replied, "Found it on the floor."

Daniel came closer, drawn by the peculiar find.

"What do you think it is?" he asked.

"Dunno," Jack said again.

The two fell silent.

Daniel looked at the object, then at the box. A thought drifted to the front of his mind.

_What if…?_

He turned back to his friend.

"Jack," he began, "Do you think-"

But Daniel got no further, for Jack, surprised by the archeologist so loudly breaking the silence, pressed one of the object's buttons.

A foreign, vibrating sound emitted from the device, and its tip glowed bright green. The sound wasn't very loud, yet both men felt it in their chests, as one feels the powerful rumble of a fighter jet as it goes roaring past.

Jack jerked his thumb off the button, and stared at Daniel, who stared right back as they waited tensely with bated breath for the ceiling to fall, or for the floor to vanish, or for a giant boulder to appear.

Nothing happened.

Daniel gave a relieved sigh.

"That was close," he said.

Jack nodded.

"Y'think?"

Daniel started to turn away, but stopped. He looked down at the floor, then up at Jack.

"I can't move," he said.

Jack tried to lift a leg, but couldn't. His feet, like Daniel's, were stuck to the floor.

He looked up at the man, alarm spreading across his face.

"Jack," Daniel said, "What the hell did you just do?"

Jack had no chance to reply, for the room suddenly began to shake violently.

Earthquake!

Jack's instincts screamed at him to run for cover, but with his feet glued to the floor that was a distinct impossibility.

Dirt streamed out of cracks in the ceiling and walls, stirring up the inches of dust laying on the floor, and soon officer and doctor were coughing harshly in the choking air.

The cracks grew in the ceiling, and soon chunks of rock were falling all around.

Jack's desperately wanted to run for cover, but he knew he couldn't.

Any thoughts of himself, however, were instantly forgotten when of the falling rocks struck Daniel on the head. The archeologist collapsed, laying oh so still as blood oozed from the gash on his head.

"Daniel!"

Jack could only helplessly watch as his friend began to die right before his eyes.


	7. Found Out

Sam ducked back behind her rock, wide-eyed and confused.

How could the British government know about the Stargate Program? Even if they did, why would they tell UNIT about it? And besides UNIT certainly wasn't part of Britain's main military, so why was this strange old Brigadier talking about alien invasions in "the old days"?

Had the British found a third Stargate and not told anyone about it?

Sam shook her head. This was getting way too weird.

She rose to her feet, deciding she had heard enough, and turned to leave.

Carter jumped back in surprise, for standing in front of her was a tall, brutish-looking old man, whose sharp little eyes stared at her intently. He grabbed Sam by the shoulder and marched her out of hiding to take her to the Brigadier she'd been spying on.

The officer looked surprised as the pair came up to him, Sam shaking off the man's large hand and glaring at the offensive giant who had dared touch her, and said offensive giant looking at the Brigadier grimly.

"Colonel Gregson," the Brigadier greeted the tall man, still looking vaguely confused, "And you... You are Major Carter, correct?"

"Yeah, that's me," Sam confirmed, watching the two men warily.

"Found her behind that rock, Sir," Colonel Gregson said, "Spying on you. Hope you weren't talking about anything _important_…"

The Brigadier's mouth formed a little 'O' of alarm, and he looked at Sam reproachfully.

"Now, Major," he said, "You know it isn't polite to go about listening to strangers' conversations. Or do Americans not care about that sort of thing?"

"I wasn't _eavesdropping_," Sam lied indignantly, "Is it a crime to stand by a rock around here?"

"No: but to stare at two complete strangers for ten minutes as well?" Gregson added, "Just maybe."

Sam glared at him.

All arguments and distrust were forgotten, however, when the ground began to shake violently. The three lost their balance and fell to the ground heavily, staring at each other in shock.

_Earthquake?_


	8. Tremors

A comfortable quiet reigned as General Price sipped his tea and Major Davis simply relaxed, each satisfied that he had done his job well.

General Price smiled behind his tea mug.

"It's nice, isn't it," he said.

Major Davis looked over at him with a curious "hmm?"

"Doing the best you can and knowing it went well," Price explained, "It feels nice."

Davis smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it does."

Silence fell once again, broken only by General Price's sipping and Major Davis' breathing. Being military men, both had long since learned to appreciate the moments of quiet that were so seldom part of their lives.

But, as is the nature of all things cherished, the quiet was soon shattered.

First, a low rumble caught the officers' attention. The rumble steadily grew, causing them to look about in alarm, and then the ground began to shake.

General Price looked down at the ground, then up at Major Davis. He promptly chucked his mug and grabbed Davis by the shoulder, shouting, "Move it, man!"

Major Davis needed no second bidding, and by the time they had left the tent he was dragging the General along. The older man panted heavily as he tried to maintain his balance while the younger man looked around in bewilderment.

"Earthquake?" Davis wondered aloud.

"Good thing we're out in the open," said General Price, "Otherwise-"

He and Major Davis stared at each other alarm, both exclaiming, "Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson."

General Price saw a young Private stumbling about as he tried to stay on his feet. The General ran over to him, shouting, "Your radio, man! I need your radio!"

The Private looked up at his superior in confusion.

"General? What's happening?"

"_Radio!_"

The man gave a startled "yessir!" and handed the General his radio. Major Davis watched tensely as Price turned on the radio and called, "Colonel O'Neill, this is General Price, come in, please."

There was no response.

"Colonel O'Neill, this is General Price, please respond."

Again there was nothing.

"Colonel O'Neill, do you read? Colonel O'Neill?"

General, Major, and Private heard only empty static as the ground beneath them trembled, as though it was laughing at the pain it had caused.


	9. Spies

Teal'c stared at Private Hodges for a long time before saying anything. Higgie was also staring, but at the Jaffa, not his comrade.

"Ye're an alien?" he asked, bewildered.

"'Course he's an alien!" Hodges replied for Teal'c, "And hey, where's my fifteen quid?"

Higgie looked at his friend with an expression that screamed: "Hodges, there is a real, honest-to-God _alien_ standing right in front of us and you're thinking about _money?_" Hodges gave a dismissive shrug in response to Higgie's silent inquiry.

If Hodges had been watching Teal'c instead of his friend, he would have seen the deadly expression that entered the Jaffa's eyes.

"Whom do you serve?" Teal'c demanded.

Hodges looked at Teal'c in surprise, not understanding his question.

"Sorry… What?"

Teal'c took a step forward, his expression menacing.

"Whom do you serve?" he asked again.

Hodges shifted on his feet uneasily.

"Uh… UNIT; and Great Britain-"

"Lies!" Teal'c spat.

He took another step forward. Hodges took three back.

"You are a Goa'uld spy," Teal'c accused.

Hodges stared at the Jaffa blankly.

"A Goa'what spy? I'm not a spy!"

"You cannot deceive me," Teal'c growled, looming over the smaller man threateningly.

Hodges stepped further away and pulled out his gun. The UNIT Private's eyes flashed gold.

"Stay back, Jaffa!" he ordered, his voice now deep and warped.

It was the voice of a Goa'uld.

Higgie stared at the man he thought to be his friend in confusion.

"Hodges? Why are ye talking like that?"

The Goa'uld didn't even look at Higgie as he gave the Irishman such a backhand; it sent him crashing to the ground in an unconscious heap. Teal'c's anger soared, but he knew that if he moved the Goa'uld wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

The Goa'uld's eyes narrowed, as if he was trying to identify the Jaffa before him.

"You… you are the Shol'vah: Teal'c," the Goa'uld stated. He smirked. "How fitting it is that a minor Goa'uld like me shall be the one to cause your demise."

The smirk vanished, and the gun was lifted higher.

"Give me your zat'ni'katel, Shol'vah. Do not attempt to trick me."

Teal'c slowly pulled out his zat. The Goa'uld held out a hand, a gesture that silently demanded the weapon be given over. Teal'c began to hand over the zat'ni'katel, but he abruptly activated the weapon and fired.

The ground shook; ruining Teal'c aim and allowing the Goa'uld to first dodge away without harm, then to seize the zat and shoot Teal'c. He smirked with arrogant triumph at the prostrate Jaffa and dashed away on unsteady feet.

The Goa'uld cast the zat'ni'katel away, and fell to the trembling ground. His eyes flashed once more with annoyance, and he staggered to his feet and stumbled about towards the tents. An old man whom he recognized to be his host's superior ran towards him, shouting something. He reached the Goa'uld and seized him by the shoulders.

The Goa'uld hid his revulsion with an expression of bewilderment.

"General?" he said, his voice now flat and human, "What's happening?"

"_Radio!_" The General bellowed.

Keeping his human cover as Private Hodges, the Goa'uld stuttered a "yessir!" and fumbled out his radio, which the General snatched and immediately used to call the American commander.


	10. Ascension

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, everyone. Something came up that I had to take time to think about and respond to.**

**To Skycross (and whoever else might be wondering): I'm sorry that my writing offended you. I had no intention of making UNIT seem the fool, as I hold them in the highest regard. Please know that finding episodes of the original Doctor Who is very difficult where I am, so I can't write about UNIT with complete and total accuracy. I write UNIT the way I see them, and the way I see them is NOT bumbling fools.**

**And also, Skycross, before you write a review in response to something that angers you, please take a moment to calm yourself and think about what you want to say. The review you wrote me came across as garbled and hateful. I have worked on this story for over a year. It's my first time writing SG-1, and the first time for many other things as well. I put a lot of work into this. Please, when you write a review, provide thoughtful advice, but don't tear people down! I got the impression that you were pointing out all my faults, and that you had no thoughts on how to improve.**

**I have already completed the story, and I will post it as it has already been written. When all the chapters are posted, I will let the story sit for a good while and come back someday to improve it as I can.**

**Please answer to this, Skycross. And please know that _I am not trying to pick a fight_. I only want to understand how to write my stories better. It's hard to do that when someone is tearing you down without handing you so much as a brick to build yourself back up with.**

**~!~!~!**

"Colonel O'Neill, this is General Price, come in, please."

Jack didn't hear the voice calling his name, as he was too busy trying to grab Daniel. The Colonel was on his knees, holding himself up with one hand while reaching out to Daniel with the other.

As Fate's cruel sense of humor would have it, Jack's teammate was just out of his grasp. Jack swore angrily and tried to extend his reach.

That was when he discovered that his hand and his knees were now stuck to the floor in addition to his feet. Jack sighed.

"Colonel O'Neill, this is General Price, please respond."

This time Jack heard the General's call. He reached up to his radio to answer, but apparently Fate's vicious whim wasn't quite spent, for the ground gave an even rougher shake than normal and forced Jack to steady his balance by placing his only free hand against the chamber's stone floor. The shaking subsided to a less violent tremble.

Jack's head drooped.

_Great. Just great._

He was trapped in an underground chamber doing a jig, his friend was dying right next to him _just out of his reach_, and his hands, knees, and feet were stuck to the floor.

Like magnets.

Jack's teeth clenched angrily.

_I __**hate**__ magnets!_

"Colonel O'Neill, do you read? Colonel O'Neill?"

Jack didn't know what was in the Pandorica, and frankly, he didn't care. Whoever had set this place up had just murdered one of _his_ team members, and Jack wasn't about to let that go. Now if only the floor would let _him_ go…

Jack tried to tug his hands free, but to no avail. Still he continued to try.

Suddenly the ground beneath him gave a tremendous lurch, and if Jack wasn't being held to the floor by invisible Duct Tape he would have become The First Anti-Gravity Air Force Colonel in the World.

However, Jack was nowhere near being immune to gravity, for now G-forces had successfully pinned him flat against the floor.

The room was going up, and fast. How, the Colonel had no idea; but Jack was starting to get a nasty suspicion that he and Daniel were trapped inside a spaceship that was about to take its leave of Earth.


	11. Dodgeboulder

It didn't take long for Sam, Colonel Gregson, and the Brigadier to find out that it wasn't easy to get to your feet when the ground beneath you is doing its best impression of Jell-O. After many attempts and several frustrated exclamations they managed to reach a standing position and keep it.

Despite the bizarreness of the situation, the old Brigadier seemed to be having the time of his life.

"I say, Gregson," he said to his comrade, "This is rather like the old days, isn't it?"

The Brigadier lost his balance and Colonel Gregson grabbed the back of his shirt-collar to stop him from falling.

"It certainly is, Sir," he replied.

Sam shook her head. Brigadier Collins' antics were ridiculous. Here they were, probably in danger, and he was behaving like he was sitting comfortably at home chattering away about "the good old days." It was time to change the subject.

"It must be some kind of earthquake," Sam said as she looked around.

Brigadier Collins shook his head in disagreement.

"That's doubtful, Major," he said. "This isn't an earthquake zone: why else do you think Stonehenge is still standing? No, it must be something else."

"Like what?"

The ground shook even harder, throwing them off balance but Colonel Gregson kept them from falling.

"I believe…" the Brigadier began thoughtfully.

He never got a chance to state his idea, for all of sudden Colonel Gregson shoved them away, urgently shouting: "Move!"

Sam and Collins stumbled forward and fell clumsily onto the grass. Something incredibly heavy hit the ground behind them, temporarily turning the earth into a trampoline which sent both Major and Brigadier soaring into the air. They hit the hard ground for a second time, emitting twin groans of pain.

They looked over their shoulders, and their mouths fell open to utter soft exclamations of horror.

Where Colonel Gregson had been only seconds ago, there was now a massive slab of rock. It was then that Sam and Brigadier Collins both realized the awful truth:

Stonehenge was falling down.

In an instant state of fear, Sam and Collins scrambled to their feet and began to run, dodging the gigantic stones that were tumbling all around them. Oftentimes Sam dragged the old Brigadier along as she steered the both of them around the massive hazards.

Sam froze mid-step as a rock crashed to earth only a foot away from her. Collins' grip on her hand became more strained and she looked over to see that the old man had fallen, sprawled out on the grass. His fingers clinging to Sam's hand kept his torso suspended in mid-air, but seeing that he now had Sam's attention, he let go. Collins gave an apologetic smile and began to haul himself back up to his feet with Sam's help.

That was when things went from bad to worse. Much, much worse.

Since both were focused on getting Collins back on his feet, neither of them remembered to watch the unstable pillars of Stonehenge. Before either of them could move away, one of the giant stones tilted and fell, landing less than a foot away from Sam; and right on top of Collins' legs.

The Brigadier screamed – an ear-splitting, horrible noise composed of the worst pain imaginable. Collins thrust Sam away, his fingers scraped the earth as his agony drove him mad and he tried to drag himself out from underneath the several-ton rock, still screaming.

Sam tried to help, but if she moved her hands away from her ears for just a second it felt like her head would explode. She could only watch the unfortunate man's pitiful attempts to free himself.

Eventually his screams quieted to desperate sobs, and Collins' arms stopped their pulling and lay on the grass, trembling with fatigue. Tears stained his cheeks and dripped off the ends of his moustache.

Sam moved her hands off her ears and grabbed the Brigadier's arms, preparing to try what he had failed to do. She never got a chance to, for just then Collins looked up her with bloodshot gray eyes and whimpered,

"Don't."

Sam's arms fell limply to her sides, and sympathetic tears began to blur her vision. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear them away.

"What can I do?" she asked.

"Get out of here," Collins replied hoarsely, "Wait until the 'quake's over. Then come get me."

"I can't leave you," Sam argued.

"Major, _please_," the Brigadier panted, his face white with pain, "You stay, you die, it's as simple as that! So go; now!"

"Sir-"

"_Major_!"

Sam stood up, but still she hesitated.

"Go," Collins said weakly, his old gray eyes looking up at her urgently, "Please."

Sam turned and ran. If the woman had bothered to look back, she would have seen Collins disappear in a bright flash of white light.


	12. Last Man Standing

Major Davis was familiar with the nasty feeling churning in his stomach. He had experienced it many times before, listening for the drop of the other shoe, sending and receiving bad news, waiting for the shout of panic that the sky was falling, burning, they were all doomed, the Goa'uld had come.

"Colonel O'Neill, can you hear me? Do you read?"

The general tried one more time, but Davis already knew that it was hopeless. No reply came. General Price sighed, the fist clutching the radio rising to meet his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Major Davis," Price said. "They were good men."

Davis nodded. What else was there to say? Underground in the middle of an earthquake, Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson had probably been crushed. The dropping sensation in Davis' stomach abruptly stopped: apparently there was no more distance left for it to fall.

Dead? Could it be? After so many near escapes from the clutches of powerful alien enemies, the famous SG-1 was defeated by a single natural occurrence? It was crazy, just crazy.

The private from whom General Price had taken the radio looked at his commanding officer with a baffled expression. Obviously he was having difficulty comprehending the situation as well.

"Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson? They're dead?" he asked in bewilderment.

"It seems so," Price said tiredly. "Once this quake's over we'll go look for them."

As though to confirm its presence, the ground bucked violently and threw them down. The three stared up in shock as a massive pillar of stone rocked on its perch atop two other rocks, and came crashing to the ground. The general swore in shock, and the major did the same. The private, however, just stared in wonder.

"It works," he whispered, looking strangely delighted by the whole thing.

Davis glanced at the man suspiciously and started to move forward, but he was interrupted by an ear-piercing scream of pain. Davis and Price flinched, and the private whirled away from them, but not before Davis saw his eyes flash.

"Crap!"

The Goa'uld stared at Davis, and began to run.

_Oh, no you don't!_

Without a moment's hesitation Davis charged after the alien, ignoring the general's infuriated order to stand down. The Goa'uld sped towards the rapidly collapsing Stonehenge. Not entirely willing to be crushed by God knew how many tons of rock, Davis slowed.

The Goa'uld stopped shortly after Davis did, right at the edge of Stonehenge. It curved its host's lips into a jeering smile.

"Foolish Tauri!" it reprimanded him. "You have no idea what you are doing."

Price gasped in the background, stunned by the bizarre-sounding voice coming from his soldier's throat. Well, what _was_ his soldier's throat. This guy stopped being a human a long time ago.

Davis glared at the snakehead, his fingers curled into tight fists. He had no weapons, the Goa'uld probably did, and the prospects were not good. Ten to one this thing had started the earthquake once it found out that the colonel and the doctor were underground. If they weren't crushed they'd suffocate. Davis couldn't think of anything to say to the Goa'uld, nothing that would do justice to the anger rising up in him.

O'Neill and Jackson were probably dead; Carter and Teal'c were somewhere inside of the destroyed Stonehenge; and that just left him, Davis. He took a step forward. The Goa'uld's eyes glowed and it pulled out a handgun. A sharp clicked confirmed that it had turned off the safety.

"You should not have come here, Tauri," the alien said, glaring at him. In a softer voice it added, "This is not what it would seem." Shaking its host's head, it snapped, "You will _all_ die for your foolishness!"

"Not on my watch, alien!"

The Goa'uld whirled around just in time to get a hard fist delivered straight to its face, courtesy of the United Intelligence Taskforce. The snakehead reeled back, raised its gun to shoot the 'insolent' human soldier. It never got the chance.

With an electric scream that Davis was oh-so familiar with, a streak of blue light hurtled towards the Goa'uld. The gun was flung away upon impact, and with a grunt the Goa'uld fell to its knees. It stared up at the UNIT soldier, its eyes flashing one last time.

"Fools," it groaned, "You don't know…"

The Goa'uld's eyes rolled back, and it collapsed.


	13. Payback

Teal'c regained consciousness sooner than he normally would have after being zatted. This was mostly due to the fact that Stonehenge was collapsing around him, and someone was trying to drag him across the grass.

Keeping his eyes closed, Teal'c quickly reached up and snatched a wrist. He opened his eyes at the surprised gasp, and looked up at Major Samantha Carter.

"Major Carter," Teal'c greeted her. "There is a Goa'uld in our midst."

Sam stared down at Teal'c in disbelief.

"That's impossible," she said. "One of us would have sensed it."

"That it not the case."

"It zatted you?"

"Indeed. It has taken my zat'ni'katel and fled."

Teal'c released Sam's wrist and sat up.

"What of the Tauri?" he inquired, nodding the still form of Private Higgie.

"He's alive," Sam said. "But his neck isn't looking too good. The Goa'uld hit him in the face, I'm guessing, and it hit hard."

"Major Carter."

"What?"

Sam looked up in time to see another slab of rock fall. Of what was left of Stonehenge, only three pillars were still standing. As the descending fourth crashed to the ground, Sam lost her balance and fell on top of Teal'c. The UNIT private rose of couple inches into the air and dropped back down.

Sam stared at Teal'c, who raised a passive eyebrow. Sam blushed furiously and scrambled to her feet. Teal'c stood up as well, unperturbed as usual.

A few feet away, the private had woken. After sitting up, a hand rose and tentatively touched the massive bruise on his face, and with a wince it came down, blood on some of its fingertips. The young man regarded the blood with some surprise. His other hand swung around and pointed up at Teal'c.

"Ye. Answers." He paused for a moment and added: "Please."

Teal'c and Same exchanged a look. Sure, he'd been knocked unconscious by a Goa'uld, but that didn't give them the authority to let the rest of the cat out of the bag. Higgie glared at them. In other circumstances his appearance would have been comical.

His hat had fallen off, revealing a shock of vividly orange hair, the bruise on his face was already flushing a deep purple, and the bright blue eyes above it were sparking furiously. Except for maybe the bruise, he looked like the stereotypical Irishman people laughed at late at night.

"Well?" Higgie demanded. "What's going on here? Why did my best friend just try to kill me?"

Again Sam and Teal'c swapped looks. Higgie rolled his eyes irritably. He rose to his feet and stamped on the shaking ground, as though to hold it in place. When that didn't work, he directed his gaze back onto the two foreigners.

"Are ye two deaf-mutes or something?" he asked.

"Does the word _classified_ mean anything to you?" Sam replied.

Higgie was considering a retort when Teal'c lifted a hand for silence.

"The Goa'uld is near," he said quietly.

Sam nodded and silently took out her own zat and activated it. Higgie looked at it curiously, but Sam shook her head, holding up her other hand for silence. Teal'c stalked away to the right, and Sam disappeared off to the left. Shrugging, Higgie decided to walk straight down the middle and hoped it wouldn't get him killed.

He ducked behind a fallen pillar when he heard the unmistakable click of a gun's safety being turned off. Then that strange, distorted voice he had heard coming from his friend's throat just a short while ago.

"You should not have come here, Tauri."

Higgie latched onto the sound, and he quietly sped towards its source. He ducked behind a boulder, listening as the voice said something indiscernible in a quieter tone. He stared at the back of what was once Hodges as he, _it_, spoke again:

"You will _all_ die for your foolishness!"

That was it. Higgie leaped out from behind the rock and hurtled towards the man as he shouted, "Not on my watch, alien!"

The creature whirled around, eyes flashing. Higgie already had his fist drawn back, and the moment he saw Hodges' face he struck. The alien stumbled, blood spurting from its freshly broken nose, and raised its gun to shoot.

Higgie took a step back, but he knew he couldn't outrun a bullet, not unless it turned out he was actually from Krypton. Hodges' eyes glowed again, and his finger firmly wrapped around the trigger.

"You should not have come," he whispered, twisted voice barely audible.

Higgie took another step back. Behind the alien, his general and one of the Americans watched in horror and shock, unable to do anything to help.

Then, much to Higgie's surprise, a stream of blue light shot out and tangled itself around the alien. Hodges fell to his knees, the energy slowly fading as the shock was poured into his body. Gasping, he stared up at Higgie and his eyes flashed one more time.

"Fools," he groaned weakly. "You don't know…"

The alien passed out. As though to dramatize its foolish redundancy even further, the last three pillars of Stonehenge fell to the ground. Higgie suddenly realized that he was very sore, and that paired with the fact that his knees had turned into jelly made it easy for him to start sliding to the ground.

The American – Major Davis, wasn't that his name? – caught him and helped hold him upright.

"You okay?" he asked.

Higgie shook his head.

"My friend's an alien who just got shot," he said flatly. "What do ye think, Sir?"

Teal'c and Sam came out of hiding. Davis was visibly relieved to see them.

"It seems that this quake's over," he said.

"Indeed," Teal'c inclined his head.

Higgie smiled for no reason.

"Permission to speak freely, General?" he called to his superior.

Price looked from the inert hostile to his soldier.

"Granted," he said, as though nothing had happened.

"I am never going to laugh at any of ye old veterans behind yer backs again in my life," Higgie stated.

Price raised his eyebrows.

"I wasn't aware you were laughing at us in the first place, Private," he replied.

Higgie shrugged awkwardly. Sam hid a smile as she listened to the exchange. She wondered if she should comment, but her mouth fell open of its accord to utter nothing but a shocked, "Holy Hannah!"

Higgie and Davis both turned, and their jaws followed Sam's lead. _And I thought that this day couldn't get any weirder!_ Higgie thought.

Out of the earth, a new Stonehenge was rising.


	14. Visitors

The shaking was starting to ease up. Jack wondered if they had left orbit yet. If they had, where were they going? And who was flying this thing anyway: a program or an alien? God help him if the Goa'uld were at the bottom of this.

However, a quick glance around the chamber made Jack shake his head in a definitive no.

_This place just ain't flashy enough. Goa'uld don't go for dark caves with… Giant cobwebs?_

Jack blinked and looked again. Yep. The giant cobwebs were still there, coming closer with each passing second. The room hadn't stopped rising. An echoing crack pulled Jack's attention away from the cobwebs to the enormous pillars that had slammed themselves into the floor. Or had the floor slammed itself into the pillars? The loud grind of stone on stone announced the pillars locking into place.

And then all was still. Jack remained absolutely silent, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The shoe obviously didn't want to disappoint.

With a tremble and a strange, echoing _fzzapp!_ a ring of small craters appeared around Jack, his dead comrade, and presumably the rest of the box called the Pandorica. And then the lights burst in a flurry of sparks.

Jack flinched away with a started exclamation and realized that he could move again. That was something, at least. However, he was almost blind. The only thing that prevented total darkness was a distant patch of light, hopefully coming from the surface. Jack started towards it, hesitated, and looked down at where he supposed Daniel to be.

The words he had said and heard so many times rang in his ears: _we don't leave our people behind._

_But he's dead,_ Jack silently argued, _what's the point of staying with a dead man?_

_Because he's Daniel, for cryin' out loud! With the record he has, he'll probably come back to life in the next ten minutes._

Jack shook his head with a rather sardonic expression. _You really should listen to yourself sometime, O'Neill. Dead is dead is dead._

Loud breathing. Not his own. The light was being blocked. Jack spun, confronting a curving row of faceless shadows. From the way they were standing, they were carrying arms, and definitely weren't friendly.

Jack raised his arms and smiled.

"Hey folks," he greeted the whatever-they-weres.

Two of the "shadows" moved forward quicker than Jack had time to get away from and seized him by the arms and slammed him against the side of the humongous box. Apparently they weren't as worried about touching the Pandorica as Daniel had been.

A third figure moved forward, maybe the leader of the group. "What is this creature?" its voice demanded, revealing its owner to be a female. Or at least something that sounded like one.

Her dim profile against the light showed several large spike shapes on the top of her head. Darker shadows hinted at scales, and Jack could just barely see the whites her eyes. No warped voice, no flashing sclera. Not a Goa'uld. Maybe.

"It is a surface dweller," one of the shadows hissed, sounding angry and revolted. "Its vermin stink betrays its identity."

_Vermin stink?_

"Excuse me-" Jack began to protest, insulted that he had just been placed at the same level of gutter rats.

"Silence!"

The leader strode across to him and clamped a scaly hand around his throat.

"Use your words carefully, _ape_," she said in a quiet, patronizing tone, "Before you provoke us into deciding that it's time to retake our beloved planet from the thieves who have stolen it."

_**Our**__ beloved planet?_ Jack was about to grumble a retort, but it died before it got a chance to reach his lips when the creature whispered, "And yours would be the first death of the war."

Jack glared at her, but decided it would be best to shut up for the moment. He could hardly breathe as it was, anyway. The creature observed him thoughtfully for a moment. Then she became all business, her voice clipped and sharp.

"What are you doing here? What were you and your fellow ape trying to do?"

Jack wheezed, gesturing obviously at his throat. With a curt nod the hand moved away, silently permitting him to breathe.

"We weren't _trying_ to do anything," Jack said as his lungs regained the ability to function. "We were just curious about what was down here. We are a very curious race, you know…"

"You chose the wrong place to exercise your curiosity!" the reptilian snapped, losing her composure. What was it Jack and the other Tauri had done to make the lizard people so doggoned mad? "Who are you, ape? How did you learn of this place, and of the Pandorica?"

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force." Jack nodded down at his friend, his voice hardening. "That _was_ Dr. Daniel Jackson. He's dead now, thanks to you. We found out about this place from a Goa'uld database. You heard of 'em?"

A disgusted growl told Jack that she did, and was not on good terms with them. Score one?

"We didn't know about this Pandorica until we got here."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

Jack could almost feel the female whatsit's doubt. He could also tell that she was turning the whole thing over in her mind very carefully.

"You came here intending nothing?" she asked after a moment.

Hope reluctantly peeked out. Jack nodded.

"Nothin' at all."

"That is too bad."

Hope ducked back down as a flowerpot and some shoes were thrown at it. Jack watched the creature warily as his instincts all screamed at once, _Run! Attack! Get out! Don't leave Daniel behind! Forget him! Warn the others!_

"…Why?" Jack ventured to ask.

A large, round object pressed against his stomach. Jack had no doubt about what it was.

"It is too bad because I won't have the consolation of the fact that you and your fellow apes were intending to murder my people to comfort me after I have killed you and your friends," the creature said matter-of-factly.

The round object pressed in harder. Jack looked at the reptilian steadily: he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing his fear.

_Zzpclickzzp._

From the way they were looking around, the creatures didn't know what that noise had been either. Then, from all around, a tinny man's voice spoke.

"Genetic Key accepted. Phase One Unsealing complete. Commencing Phase Two."

The ground began to shake again. Enormous stone pillars began descending. The female reptilian seized Jack and started to throttle him.

"What have you done!" she screamed, any hint of composure shattered to smithereens. "What is the Genetic Key!"

The static-y voice chuckled, as though it could hear her demands.

"Wouldn't you love to know, Madame Reptilia?"

_Crash! Scrape! Crack! Grind!_

The impact and locking of at least a dozen gigantic stones made Jack's ears ring, and that paired with the scaly hands clutching his throat made the world around him begin a very peculiar sort of dance.

The creatures around him were hissing in pain—they really weren't liking the noise. The leader released her death grip on Jack's neck to place both hands on either side of her head in an effort to block out the cacophony of sound.

"Why?" she tried to scream through the tumult. "_Why?_"

The voice returned to answer the reptilian's question.

"Never tell a genius to make a perfect prison to trap one of his own, Madame Reptilia." The chuckle again. "He might be inclined to make a set of spare keys."

"What? No! No, you're dead!"

"I'm a very good faker, Madame, as I'm sure you're finding out for yourself."

The room began to rise again, slower than before. The sound of gears turning against each other came from behind Jack, and green light illuminated the details of the creatures before him. That annoying, I-know-something-you-don't chuckle sounded once more.

Except this time it was frightening.

"See you up top, Reptilia."


	15. Further Additions

Sam was finding it difficult to believe what she was seeing. Stonehenge had fallen, killing Colonel Gregson and trapping Brigadier Collins, and now from underneath it was growing a _new_ one? What could possibly be the point in having two Stonehenges stacked?

She steadily backed away from Stonehenge the Second and a quick glance around told her that her teammate and most of the Brits were doing the same. The only ones who weren't moving back were the unconscious Goa'uld, as well as General Price and Major Davis. The two officers seemed frozen in place.

Sam moved forward to get them away from the rising columns, but was beat to it by a lanky British Captain. He sprinted up to General Price and murmured something in his ear. Price reacted immediately, dashing for one of the few tents that had remained standing thus far just as a man in a doctor's coat ran out. The two conversed in quick, urgent tones.

Major Davis rejoined SG-1, and the Captain dragged the Goa'uld away from Stonehenge. Seeing that the Goa'uld was injured, he started to call for the doctor but his voice trailed off as Teal'c loomed over him.

"He will not require medical assistance," he told the Captain.

The man seemed unalarmed by Teal'c's size, but Sam could tell that he was apprehensive. "Sir, this man here is an alien," he said. "We need him alive so he can tell us what he wants."

"He and his kind want to rule over you as false gods and force you into slavery," Teal'c said flatly.

The Captain seemed taken aback by the Jaffa's certainty.

"I take it you Americans know these aliens," he said after staring around at Sam, Teal'c, and Major Davis.

The three exchanged a look. Without uttering a sound each reached the conclusion that there was no point in lying in response to this statement, the Brits had them figured out anyway, and it wasn't as though they had to give a completely straight answer.

"It's a long story," Sam said.

"Probably not as long as ours," the Captain replied with a mysterious smile. He turned and gazed at the rising Stonehenge. "Awe-inspiring, innit?" he asked. "Who would have thought it could work."

Sam nodded, and opened her mouth to release a truckload of scientific babble, but to her surprise the Captain beat her to it, albeit much less scientifically.

"It must operate on some kind of trigger that Colonel O'Neill or Dr. Jackson must have tripped, or it was timed, and was supposed to do this anyway. The earthquake may have been caused by the massive power source that runs the entire device starting up. Whatever's actually lifting Stonehenge could be a combination of things from plain old gears and lifts to anti-gravity or magnetism devices."

The captain looked over at Sam and smiled again. "What? Guys can be smart, too." He extended a hand and introduced himself, seemingly unalarmed by the spectacle before him. "Captain Doctor Michael Tennyson."

Sam took the hand and shook it. "Major Doctor Samantha Carter."

Captain Tennyson nodded with a smile. "Ah yes, the famous Dr. Carter," he said. "I've gone through some of your papers on theoretical wormhole physics. Quite an interesting read."

Sam was mildly surprised that Captain Tennyson knew her from her academic career. But, since he had a doctorate as well, it wasn't really all that improbable.

Then something occurred to Sam. She had met all of the UNIT soldiers assigned to this location, and Captain Tennyson had not been among them. Had the British been lying to them?

Captain Tennyson must have somehow interpreted her expression, because he spoke again. "Well, officially I'm here as a doctor, not a member of the military, so I'm not counted among the UNIT soldiers. Wonderful things, loopholes."

Upon seeing Sam's reactionary look to that remark, he winced. "Okay, maybe not so wonderful…" he muttered. He straightened and continued, "I'm the technical expert for the Brits."

Captain Tennyson – or was it Doctor? – fell silent, watching the rising pillars. Sam watched them, too. It was hard to avoid staring at the spectacle.

"Well, looks like Stonehenge Two's nearly up," observed Tennyson. "If it stops there, I'll begin my work."

Sam glanced over at him. "Your work?" she queried.

"Classified," was the informative reply. Captain Tennyson – it was definitely Captain now, Sam decided – turned on his heel and headed for General Price and the unnamed doctor.

He went up to the doctor and asked something. The doctor nodded absently and reeled off a list, counting up to six on his fingers. Captain Tennyson nodded back and walked away.

Sam exchanged looks with Teal'c. What were these British people up to? And how long had they been at it? Sam froze as another question came to front in her mind: _Is Tennyson the 'doctor' Brigadier Collins and the private were talking about?_

"What in…" the young private who had punched the Goa'uld, in fact the same who had earlier conversed with Collins, was staring off to the west with an incredulous expression.

Sam, Teal'c, and Major Davis followed his gaze, and soon each spotted the small caravan of black vehicles heading their way.

Sam reached for her zat, judging that these were not friendlies on the way from the fact that the private was wearing an expression that said the devil had just invited himself over for dinner.

"Oh, this is just great," the private muttered. "It's that confounded Torchwood lot."

Sam's eyes narrowed as she looked over at him curiously. "Torchwood?"

The private shook his head. "I'm not authorized to tell ye," he said. "But I can say that these fellows are sure to add to the massive headache this day has turned into." He turned and walked away to give his general warning.

Sam watched the approaching vehicles apprehensively, wondering just what sort of trouble they were bound to bring. She was so wrapped in her thoughts, she didn't even notice Stonehenge grind to a halt.


	16. Hark

Major Davis was also concerned about the oncoming group of cars, but he hid it behind a mask. Turning away, he followed the young private who'd had the nerve to sock a Goa'uld over to General Price.

"General, Sir?" the private distracted the general's attention away from the doctor he had been talking with.

"Yes, Private?"

"Approaching vehicles, Sir," the private said. "Looks like Torchwood."

General Price sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "Of course it's Torchwood," he said tiredly. "Thank you, Private. Dismissed."

The private saluted and went over to where the remnants of SG-1 stood. General Price nodded at Major Davis, showing that he knew he was there, and turned back to the doctor.

"I'm sure that takes care of some of it, Doctor, but I think you'll be receiving new patients shortly."

The doctor nodded and went back towards the tent he had come from, breaking into a run when a gurney bearing a blood-spattered body came from out of Stonehenge.

General Price turned back to Davis. "Major."

"What is Torchwood?" Davis asked, deciding it was pointless to beat around the bush.

"A top-secret organization, primarily run by power-hungry civilians." Price shook his head. "There isn't a man or woman in UNIT who likes them. In our experience, they've been too double-faced and loose, not trustworthy.

"Unfortunately, their activities are under Royal protection since God knows when or how, so we can't do anything about them. It's very bad that they're coming here: they're liable to take over the entire operation."

"What about jurisdiction?" Davis asked.

Price shook his head again. "Their _jurisdiction_ covers the entire planet," he said flatly. "Major, these people are takers. They have no rules and they have no feelings. Don't let them take advantage of you and your people."

Davis nodded. He could tell General Price was telling the truth. These Torchwood guys had _British NID_ written all over them.

A man in an old-style overcoat walked up to them. "General Wesley Price, I presume?" he said, smiling blindingly at the older man. Davis disliked the guy immediately.

"That's me," Price said gruffly.

The man offered a hand, but lowered it when Price glowered at him pointedly.

"Captain Jack Harkness, I'm with Torchwood," the man introduced himself helpfully. He turned his perfect smile on Davis. "You must be the American liaison from the Pentagon, Major Paul Davis."

Davis nodded, deciding it would be best to avoid talking around this guy. Harkness turned to General Price, all swagger and arrogance.

"So, _Wesley_," he said, "I hear you've got a bit of a situation here."

"One we can deal with," General Price said tightly.

Captain Harkness snorted. "Look, Wesley, you have less than ten men. You can't do _squat_. We can take over from here."

Davis could see the rage boiling in General Price, but he also saw the resignation. Torchwood was going to win. Then something unexpected happened: the deep, resonating voice of the Goa'uld. It must have woken up. "Captain Harkness?"

Harkness turned and looked down at the Goa'uld in surprise. The Goa'uld smiled. It looked… relieved.

"Captain, you must stop these men. You _know_ what will happen if they continue!"

Harkness hesitated, then froze at the sound of a harsh _click_. He slowly turned his head around and stared down the barrel of a pistol.

General Price's face was a mask of dark rage. "You're-_allied_ with this creature!" he spat angrily.

"No!" the reply was instantaneous. "C'mon, Wesley-"

"My _name_," Price growled, "is _General Price_! And you, young man, had better give me a _very_ good reason to not shoot you for allying with an alien hostile!"

"I'm _not_ allied with it!" Harkness insisted desperately. "I've never seen it before!"

"Then why did you recognize him?" Davis challenged. He took Harkness' sidearm and directed it at him.

"Guess what?" Davis said, staring at him coldly. "The friend of my enemy is my enemy, too."

Harkness stared at the various trained on him, and swallowed.

**~!~!~!**

**A\N: Now, before you all release the Kraken on me, let me say this: _I'm not trying to start up fights here!_ The truth of the matter is, I find it very difficult to have respect for the way Torchwood runs things. Whereas UNIT is professional and efficient, Torchwood seems to have no concept of the most basic safety standards. And I'm not just referring to the Torchwood bases other than 3, I am referring to the way that 3 itself is also run.**

**And face it, the way they act _does_ have "British NID" written all over them. _"If it's alien, it's ours"_? Sound familiar...?**

**One last thing, and I swear it's the last of it. This story takes place in 2001. This is pre-Canary Wharf, pre-new Torchwood. It's also an AU story, which explains why Jack isn't off in Wales right now.**

**So please, no ranting. I had enough of that with Skycross, and I really don't want a repeat. If you don't like it, I'm not saying you shouldn't say so, but please don't start up a round of hating. No one benefits from that.**

**That's all I have to say, and I hope that you've listened.**


	17. Chaos

To Teal'c, it was apparent to that they were at an impasse.

The UNIT Tauri had their weapons directed at the Torchwood Tauri, the Torchwood Tauri had their weapons directed at the UNIT Tauri and those from the SGC, and Teal'c and his comrades had their weapons directed at the UNIT Tauri, the Torchwood Tauri, and the Goa'uld. The only ones still moving were the doctors as they hurried about, tending to the wounded.

The man who had apparently caused all to draw their weapons slowly raised his arms in a non-threatening gesture.

"Look, General," he said, speaking to the leader of the UNIT Tauri, "I'm not a Goa'uld."

"Then how do you know him?" Major Davis snapped.

The man hesitated, then decided to say, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," Major Davis said flatly.

The man shook his head. "Major, I'm no friend of the Goa'uld," he insisted. "Just let it go. We can take care of things from here."

"I don't think so," the general snapped. "Your knowing this here alien has compromised the capability your group has to take over this operation. This stays in UNIT's hands."

The man shook his head again and sighed. "You guys just don't get it," he said. "I know how you feel, really I do. I used to be like you, blindly following orders…"

Teal'c would not stand to have a friend of the Goa'uld mock an honest man. "Silence!" he thundered.

The man snapped his mouth shut and looked over at Teal'c in surprise.

"Captain Harkness!" one among the Torchwood faction, a woman, called to her leader. "Orders?"

Captain Harkness hesitated, glanced over at the general who had a firearm pointed at his head. "Civilians versus trained warriors, Harkness," the general said. "Your call."

Teal'c knew the look in the old Tauri's eyes. It was the look that said he was willing to go to any lengths he deemed necessary.

Captain Harkness knew that look as well. Wisely, he told his people to stand down.

Then he looked directly at the general and said two words: "The Doctor."

All of the UNIT soldiers looked stunned, whereas the Torchwood Tauri seemed wary.

Harkness shrugged. "You wanted to know why I recognize the Goa'uld, well, now you know."

Teal'c, Sam, and Major Davis all looked at each other. It was obvious that they were the only ones that didn't know the meaning of "The Doctor".

It seemed, however, that the situation was easing, for the general began slowly lowering his gun.

Then a young doctor burst from out of the newly arisen Stonehenge, his expression like that of one who was being hunted. "Creatures in Stonehenge!" he gasped. "They're after-"

A flash of deadly red energy shot out from among the pillars and struck the doctor. He screamed and fell to the ground, dead.

Teal'c immediately raised his weapon, wishing that it was his staff that he held in his hands. He dodged aside before a second beam of light hit him.

He heard exclamations of surprise and fear come from all the Tauri, and as he turned about he beheld strange creatures surrounding them all.

The creatures were dressed uniformly, in dull colors of black, gray, and silver. A single red sash wrapped around their waists. Masks, designed to frighten, covered the faces of the beings, and large green spikes arched from the top of their heads, covered in scales.

All the creatures were alike, carrying the same weapons, wearing the same uniforms. Only one was different. This one wore no mask, and dull reddish brown scales mingled with the green. Over her dark uniform, she wore a red cloth jerkin.

She surveyed the people before her spitefully and spat out two words: "Execute them!"

The creatures raised their weapons to kill all the people present. The Jaffa and the Tauri lifted theirs in response.

Then a voice Teal'c knew very well cried out, "No! Restac, stop!"


	18. Phase Two

_Clankclankclank._ Jack turned and saw that the half-moon patterns on the Pandorica had lit up, and dozens of tiny gears were spinning and rotating as the box unsealed. Jack stepped back in surprise when the Pandorica lifted itself out of a cavity in the floor, half-moons turning to full circles, and revealing that its actual height was a great deal more than Jack's was.

The leader-hadn't the voice called her Madame Reptilia?-kept screaming, "No!" as the chamber continued to rise. She grabbed the front of Jack's shirt and cried, "What have you done, ape?"

Jack lifted his hands. "I wish I knew!" he shouted over the nose.

She shrieked angrily and threw him at the Pandorica. Jack hit his head on it, hard, and the world started that lovely spinning that promised an approaching concussion.

The creature whirled around and barked orders at the others of her kind. "Prepare to attack! We cannot allow any of the apes to escape!"

"Hey, now, wait a minute," Jack protested. "We didn't know anything about this here Pandorica, so you can't just-"

"_Silence!_"

Jack silenced.

'Reptilia' turned back to her cronies. "There will likely be ape resistance on the surface. Dispose of it."

"What?" Jack snapped.

The creature turned at him and glared. With the green light from the Pandorica illuminating her face, Jack could see that, in spite of the spikes and scales, something about her seemed rather human. For the first time he noticed the scar over her eye. _Wonder what that came from?_

"Listen," said Jack, "we didn't mean for any of this to happen. This is all an accident. You think we _meant _for Daniel to die?" he demanded angrily, pointing at the body. "Isn't there a way to fix this without more people getting killed?"

The leader tilted her head, and then gave a low, sneering, "No." She lashed out with scaly hands and threw Jack to the floor with surprising force.

Jack's head thudded against the rocky floor, and the world began to spiral down a long drain leading to blackness. He tried to rise to his feet only to be struck back down viciously, and the colonel was barely aware of anything as the creatures left.

Jack tried to keep from blacking out as he slowly struggled to his feet, head throbbing and knees aching. He had just bent down pick up his gun when the chamber exploded with light, dazzling his darkness-accustomed eyes and adding to his piercing headache.

Jack turned in time to see the Pandorica crack open, white light bursting out. And inside the box was a most unexpected thing: a man.

…Or something that looked like a man, anyway. Jack lifted his P90, just in case.

The man was sitting inside what looked like a chair, and some ridiculously huge constraints over his arms, legs, and waist were unlocking with mechanical whirrs.

The voice returned to dully chime, "Phase Two unlocking complete. Welcome back, Doctor."

The man inside the box stared at Jack before a slow smile spread across his face. A smile that Jack thought wasn't quite friendly, but wasn't completely hostile either.

"Oh look, I have a welcoming party," he said.

"Howdy," Jack replied.

He didn't make a move to lower his gun, and the man sighed. Then he looked at the colonel inquisitively. "How did you open the Pandorica?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Jack responded.

"You have no idea, do you?" the man said with a crooked smile. He stepped out of the box, wobbling a little, and looked around. "Looks a bit different down here," he said. "Of course, it's been, what? Two thousand years?"

He bent over and picked up something sort of largeish that flopped in his hand, studied it for a moment, and put it in his pocket.

"Who are you?" Jack asked sharply, not liking the feeling of another weird person (at least this guy _looked_ like one) wandering around without the least regard of what Jack thought about it.

"I'm The Doctor," the man replied, head snapping up to look Jack squarely in the eyes. "I'm the man who's going to save your life."

The absolute certainty with which The Doctor spoke the words surprised Jack. He watched the strange man closely, the question, "Doctor who?" right on his lips, when something happened that Jack hadn't quite been expecting.

The man had slowly propped himself up against the Pandorica, eyes looking up at Jack in confusion. "Jack?" His hand went up to his aching head, and he winced. He brought his hand back down and stared at the blood on his fingers in bewilderment, then looked up at Jack again.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked.


	19. Pandora's Box

**A/N: Okay, this is me, interrupting your reading again. (Oh, I'm so bad!) But, can I just say, how much I really love getting feedback from all of you. I love reading how other people see my story, love learning their opinions and thoughts. Your reviews make me laugh, or think, or simply sit there nodding at my computer in agreement.**

**So, I guess that this is a thank-you of sorts. I dunno. I just felt like I should say something, because I really do enjoy reading comments from all of you. It's one of the highlights of my day, in all seriousness. So, even if I don't answer to a review, or if I take forever to respond, know that it has been read and appreciated.**

**Yeah. I think that's it. Anyway, have a lovely day, you all, and enjoy the new chapter! :)**

**~!~!~!**

Daniel's head ached. In fact, all of him ached, but his head most of all. It felt as though his brain had been knocked off a stand and was now bouncing around in his head in a jolly attempt to generate as much chaos as possible.

He squinted up at Jack and the other man, who had his back turned to the archeologist. Daniel knew he was leaning up against something large and cold, and a short ways to his right something else was giving off dazzling white light. Daniel's sore head did not appreciate the intensity.

Daniel could remember that something had hit him on the head, but he couldn't recall anything afterwards.

"Jack?"

Daniel reached up to his throbbing head, and brought his hand away with blood stained fingers. He stared at them, then looked back up at Jack.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked.

Jack stared at Daniel for the longest time. The colonel kept his gun pointed at the strange man as he shook his head and _tsk_ed disapprovingly. "Daniel, how many times do I have to tell you: no dying?"

Daniel blinked, his eyebrows lowering. "I was dead?" He didn't dare add the word _again_.

Jack nodded. "Again," he said.

Well, apparently Daniel's friend did dare.

"Dead?" The man turned and observed Daniel curiously, and the archeologist felt more than saw Jack's focus snap away from him and onto the stranger.

He was looking from Daniel to the source of the light, which was… "The Pandorica," Daniel said, eyes wide. "You opened the Pandorica."

"Yes you did-and _how _did you do that?" the man asked, turning from Daniel to Jack in what was an almost theatrical manner.

"I'm not sure," Daniel said, blinking cloudy eyes.

_Cloudy… _He put his hand to his face, and discovered his glasses missing. Daniel started to move to look for them, but Jack came up and placed them in his hand, still loosely holding his firearm.

Daniel slipped his glasses on, noting that the left lens was cracked slightly, and the world became much sharper. Although with a headache like his, he wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

"Sluggish pupils, and you're very pale," the man said. "Major concussion and severe blood loss, I'd guess." He looked up at Jack. "You've got a nasty concussion, too," he told the man. "Both of you need to see a doctor. Is there one around these parts?"

"Plenty up top, and Reptilia and her crew are up there," Jack said. "We've got to stop 'em."

"Reptilia?" The man looked at Jack sharply. "Where did you hear that?"

"It's what the voice on the speakers called her, Madame Reptilia."

"What did she look like?"

"Scaly, big spikes on her head, scar over her eye, some kinda uniform-had some bells and whistles, so she must've been an officer."

"Restac," the man said, a grieved look on his face. "That's Restac. She's here."

"You know her?" Jack asked, suspicious once again.

"Yes, in 2020," the man said. "She's the commander of the Silurian military."

"Hold on," Daniel said. "Did you just say 20_20_?"

The man turned to him. "Yes, hello, my name's The Doctor, I'm going to save your life, his, make sure the whole universe happens, and did I mention I'm a time traveler?"

Daniel's eyebrows skyrocketed. "You're a _time traveler_?" he repeated with amazement, and some doubt.

"Yeah," The Doctor said shortly. He patted his pockets and looked over at Jack. "Have you seen a sort of rod lying around? Green light, 'bout as long as a pen, thickish…"

"You mean this?" Jack asked, bending over and picking up the object The Doctor had described. He jerked it closer when The Doctor reached out for it, and semi-consciously lifted his gun.

"What is it?" he asked, sliding his gaze between The Doctor and the gadget in his hand.

"It's a sonic screwdriver," The Doctor explained.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Sonic… screwdriver," he said flatly.

"Yes," The Doctor nodded, "Now can I have it back?"

Jack eyed the man warily. "Why?" The colonel nodded at the Pandorica. "You've been locked in there for a couple millennia, and you expect me to hand you the gizmo that killed Dr. Jackson, just like that?"

"The sonic screwdriver's not a weapon," The Doctor protested. He looked from the device to the two other men. "What do you mean it killed him?"

"Well," Daniel said, "Jack found this… screwdriver, and pressed a button on it. Then the ceiling started falling down, our feet got stuck to the floor, I got hit in the head…" Daniel gestured vaguely, eyebrows joining. "I don't remember anything after that."

"The Silurians showed up," Jack said. "Speaking of which, we've got to _go_…"

He started to turn, but The Doctor broke in, loudly protesting, "Now wait just a minute! You can't just run up there with guns blazing!"

"You got a better plan?" Jack retorted.

The Doctor looked from Daniel to Jack, his expression intense.

"Restac can be reasoned with," he said. "Not easily, but it can be done. _But_," here he shot a sharp look at Jack, "that can't happen if we go up there and start shooting Silurians. Restac has a very vengeful personality."

"Well, good luck with the reasoning," Jack said. "That thing's hell-bent on killing everybody on the surface because we found the Pandorica."

"We have to try, Jack," Daniel said. "These aren't Goa'uld."

Jack looked back at him, his expression dark.

"Can we trust you?" Jack asked, abruptly moving his gaze onto The Doctor.

The Doctor nodded seriously. "Yes," he said.

Jack looked at him for a moment, scrutinizing carefully. With a small nod of his own, he handed over the sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor took it, assuring Jack, "You've made the right choice."

The colonel didn't respond, but turned instead to Daniel. "You feelin' up to it, Daniel?" he asked.

The archeologist nodded slowly, even though he felt like crap. "I'm better," he said, "let's go."

Jack held out a hand and hauled Daniel to his feet. Daniel experienced a wave of dizziness at the sudden rise and staggered, but Jack held him steady until he adjusted.

All three looked up at the sound of screams.

"Restac!" The Doctor exclaimed.

They all ran out of the chamber, The Doctor's speed putting him in the lead while Jack lagged behind with Daniel.

"You help The Doctor reason with lizard lady," Jack ordered Daniel as they went. "If things go wrong, I don't care what The Doctor says, shoot to kill."

Daniel nodded, a Carter-esque _Yes, Sir_ drifting through his mind. Jack nodded back in acknowledgment, and fell in behind Daniel to watch his six.

Their feet pounded against stone steps, and the three men charged onto the surface.


	20. Convolution

Sam grinned with absolute ecstasy when she saw Daniel appear, along with Colonel O'Neill and another man.

Her smile faltered, however, when she noticed that Jack and Daniel were both unsteady on their feet, Daniel on the verge of staggering. She saw the bloody gash on Daniel's head, and the faint bruising around Jack's neck.

_What caused that?_ she wondered.

The leader of the creatures, Restac, hissed angrily when she saw the small group. "We will _not_ allow this to continue!" she spat.

"I am not your enemy, Restac," the strange man said quietly, British accent revealing him to be a native to the Isles.

"Silence!"

"I'm here to help, Restac."

"_Silence!_"

"Your people were wrong, Restac."

"I said _silence!_" Restac screamed, seizing the weapon of one of her soldiers and pointing it at the trio of men.

But before she could do anything, the stranger lifted a rod, its tip glowing bright green. Sparks flew from Restac's weapon, and she dropped it with an angry gasp. Seconds later the weapons of all her people responded in kind, and the hostile beings were unarmed.

The Tauri all moved forward to surround them until the tongue of one creature whipped out and struck the neck of a man from Torchwood. The humans and Jaffa swiftly backed out of range, keeping their firearms trained.

The only reason they hadn't killed them outright was because O'Neill had sharply called out, "Hold your fire!" in such a commanding tone that all had obeyed without even thinking.

General Price, Captain Harkness, and Major Davis made their way to Daniel, Jack, and the stranger. Sam satisfied herself with the spot she was in, where she could hear what was said and keep her eyes on the enemy at the same time.

"Colonel, we had thought we'd lost you," General Price said.

"There've been lots of people who've thought that, General," Jack said lightly.

Price's lips curved in a brief smile. "That should make an interesting chat over tea," he said. "Now, who is this alien?"

"Restac, commander of the Silurian military," the creature growled softly. "I am your doom, apes."

"Try not to get offended when she calls you that," Jack advised. "She says it a lot."

"Don't antagonize her, Colonel," the new arrival cautioned. "Restac is dangerous, she killed a good friend of mine." There was a brief pause, then he asked, "What are you doing here, Jack?"

"What?" two voices responded.

"No, no, not you, Colonel, I'm talking to Captain Jack Harkness."

"How do you know me?" the tone was one of bewilderment.

"I've known you for two lives, Jack. Figure it out."

_Lives?_ Sam blinked.

Captain Harkness gave a low gasp.

"The Doctor," he said. "You're The Doctor."

A murmur of astonishment rippled through the small crowd. Sam's focus slipped, and she stared over at the man who had been identified as The Doctor. _**He's**__ the one Brigadier Collins and the private were talking about!_

The Doctor smiled, until every member of UNIT present went straight-backed and hands went up in respectful acknowledgement.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and muttered with some aggravation, "_Again_ with the salutes!"

His embarrassment made Sam smile.

The UNIT soldiers relaxed, and General Price beamed at The Doctor. "Welcome back, Doctor!" He shook The Doctor's hand, introducing himself, "General Wesley Price of UNIT, Sir, at your service."

"UNIT?" The Doctor smiled broadly, looking out at the British soldiers scattered throughout the group. "Good old UNIT, knew you'd show up sometime. Tell me, General, what year is it?"

Sam thought that was a very odd question, but Price didn't bat an eyelid. "2001," he replied.

"Hm…" The Doctor looked around. "Sometime after the Summer Solstice?"

"Yes, Doctor, it's July now."

Daniel, who had been silently observing Restac up until now, spoke. "Restac, why are you trying to kill all these people?"

"They are vermin, they _deserve_ to die!" Restac spat, looking at them hatefully.

"But what's the point?" Daniel pressed. "What does killing us accomplish? What good does it create for you?"

"You apes stole our world," Restac said. "We were here long before-"

"Yes, Restac, but that doesn't give you automatic rights to it now," The Doctor said. "I've told you that before."

"The apes are destroying our beloved planet, and you expect us to stand by and watch?" Restac demanded.

"I thought your job was to keep an eye on the Pandorica," Jack said.

"Yes, but why take care of an old box when you can ignite a war with humankind and retake the earth instead?" The Doctor pointed out. "Must admit, to some that would sound a lot more appealing than guard duty."

The Doctor frowned as he looked at the Silurian. "You tried to start a war before, Restac. I stopped you then and I'll stop you now."

"You _cannot_ stop us!" Restac hissed. "The Silurians shall have their world once more!"

"Shall I blow her head off, Doctor?" General Price asked grimly.

Sam agreed with the man. The more Restac went on, the more Sam just wanted to shoot her.

"No, General, that won't be necessary," The Doctor replied.

Price nodded, but Sam wasn't the only one who could see his clenched jaw.

"Restac, why was the Pandorica sealed with The Doctor inside?" Daniel asked.

Restac only sneered at him. "What does it matter, ape?" she said condescendingly. "You are all going to die, anyway."

"Would ye stop calling us that?" Private Higgie snapped, getting sick of the insults. "I, for one, don't believe my great-uncle was a monkey!"

General Price chuckled at that one. Inside joke, Sam assumed.

"What do you mean we're all going to die?" Daniel asked.

Sam tried to stay focused on Restac's mocking reply, but a small commotion by the medical tent caught her attention.

The doctor who had been speaking with General Price earlier had frozen where he was standing, staring in frightened shock. "Restac," he said.

A look of absolute hatred came into his face, and he started forward, but then Captain Tennyson charged into him, grabbing his shoulders and urgently saying, "No! Doctor, you can't go in there. If they find out about you, they'll kill you."

He firmly steered the doctor into the tent, casting furtive glances about as they went.

Sam looked over at Teal'c. _What was that about?_ As if sensing her question, Teal'c raised his eyebrow-essentially, the Jaffa had just shrugged.

_You know you spend too much time at work when you can translate your teammate's eyebrow_, Sam thought to herself.

She turned back to where Daniel was still trying to talk to Restac, who had apparently refused to answer his question.

Jack seemed bored, Major Davis looked tense, Harkness, was… well, Sam couldn't really tell, General Price was watching the exchange between Daniel and Restac intently, and The Doctor was looking over at the medical tent with a puzzled frown. Had he seen Tennyson and the doctor as well?

Sam glanced over at the tent again and saw that the doctor was standing at the entrance, watching everyone else. Captain Tennyson was nowhere to be seen.

For some reason that worried Sam.

Realization struck, and The Doctor's eyes popped as his mouth fell open. "Rory!"

The physician stiffened, and stared at The Doctor in shock. "Doctor?"


	21. Monster Mash

"No!"

Major Davis jumped back in surprise when the Goa'uld launched itself past him and at The Doctor.

It never made it.

None should complain that Colonel O'Neill had an itchy trigger finger, for it was that very finger that sent the Goa'uld howling to earth as it tried to heal itself from multiple bullet wounds.

O'Neill watched the Goa'uld, expression dark. He looked around at those present and remarked, "Well, no one told me the snakeheads had invited themselves to the party."

"Fools," the Goa'uld gasped. "You will all die! _We_ will all die." It stared up at The Doctor, and its eyes flashed as an expression of fear came into its face. "Doomed, doomed," the Goa'uld began to chant.

"Oh yes, I know, 'gollum, gollum', _now listen_!" General Price's voice switched from a patronizing sneer to an angry shout in the same breath. "You," he pointed at the Goa'uld, "and you," his finger swung to point at Restac, "are going to give me straight and honest answers, or so help me I'll have your entrails _boiled_, am I clear?"

Restac snarled irately, spitting at the ground, but the Goa'uld looked up at the enraged General for a long time, considering, and very slowly nodded.

During this exchange, the physician who The Doctor had referred to as Rory approached the group of leaders.

"Hello, Restac," he greeted the Silurian commander, looking at her coldly.

He lifted his forearm, and much to Davis' surprise his fingers swung off on a hinge and the muzzle of a gun slid out from within his own hand!

"No, Rory!" The Doctor shouted, leaping across and jerking the arm up just in time to launch two orbs of energy up into the air, where they dissipated harmlessly.

"Don't shoot," The Doctor told Price, who had his weapon trained on Rory along with the rest of UNIT.

"He's an Auton!" Price said.

"He's a Nestene duplicate," The Doctor responded. "Put the gun down."

Something in The Doctor's gaze softened, and he said in gentler tones, "I know the Autons took someone who was important to you, General, but Rory's different. You have to trust me. Please. Put the gun down, Wesley."

The General looked at The Doctor tensely, his shaking hands causing the pistol to quiver in his grip. With a shaky sigh, Price lowered the gun, and his men followed suit.

Rory was looking at The Doctor with the same shell-shocked expression Davis had seen on young men completely unprepared for sights of horror. "I tried to kill her," he said weakly. "I didn't even think about it. Just like I didn't think about…" His voice trailed off, and he bowed his head.

"Just like you didn't think about Amy?" someone asked.

Everyone turned to see Captain Michael Tennyson nonchalantly leaning up against a nearby chunk of ex-Stonehenge.

"Don't be so harsh on yourself, plastic one," Tennyson advised. "After all, you can't help it that you're nothing more than a program. It's what you were built to do, killing."

The Doctor had gone pale. "Who is this?" he asked General Price.

"Captain Michael Tennyson," Price replied.

"M.T.," The Doctor murmured.

"Is he dangerous?" Price asked, looking alarmed.

"Dangerous?" The Doctor repeated the word. "General, this man is universally wanted for an array of crimes, chief among them genocide!"

A shocked (and more than slightly angry) murmur arose from the people, and Price's men all directed their firearms at Tennyson without hesitation.

Tennyson's eyebrows furrowed, and he protested, "Hey, you can't kill me."

"Oh? And why not?" Price demanded. Three of his men now had turned out to be enemy operatives in the past half hour, and he was not a happy General.

"Because!" Tennyson exclaimed. "I'm a Time Lord!"


	22. Dark Hearts

Teal'c had heard the Tauri phrase speaking of silence that was palpable, but this was one of the rare times he had actually experienced it.

"But… the Time Lords are all dead!" Captain Harkness spluttered. "The Doctor's the last one!"

"That depends on how you define 'Time Lord', Cappy," Tennyson replied.

Teal'c didn't know any definition of Time Lord. He said nothing, however, for the moment at least, and observed.

The Doctor laughed in an entirely non-humorous way and said, "Yes, and I suppose your definition would be homicidal lunatic!"

Tennyson winced. "You hurt me, Doctor," he said. "And that, by the way, is an entirely inaccurate description of me. I'm not a murderer; I haven't killed a being in millennia."

"Why should we believe you?" General Price demanded. "You seem to have no qualms about lying."

"Well, there's quite a lot of difference between a liar and a murderer, you know," Tennyson said.

"Not in my book," Price growled. "Who are you, alien? What's your _real_ name?"

"Maroxekalononbach Rassiloa," the Time Lord said. "I usually go by Maroxe. Never did like Rassiloa. Sounds too much like Rassilon, who I don't like at all."

Maroxe abruptly changed his focus, looking down at the Goa'uld. "Hello there. Kel'tar, wasn't it?" Maroxe smiled. "Still guarding the Pandorica, eh?" he asked. "Uncharacteristically loyal for a Goa'uld. Of course, your survival depends on it, so naturally you'd stay to make sure the job is done properly. Can't trust the Silurians, can you?"

Restac spat something in a strange tongue and Maroxe's amused expression dropped with alarming speed.

"Call me that again," he said warningly, "And I'll make sure your race becomes nothing more than a jumble of over-sized lizards."

Restac scoffed, lips curling upwards in a mocking expression. Maroxe straightened up and glared at her, gray eyes flashing angrily.

"Don't play games with me, Restac," Maroxe spat. "I may not be a Time Lord as others see it, but I am older than The Doctor, and much less kind. I am no fool, Silurian. I could build a Stargate in my sleep."

Maroxe's frown deepened and a flicker of regret passed through his eyes. "That's why you had me build the Pandorica."

The Doctor's mouth fell open once again. "_You_ built the Pandorica?" he asked, shocked.

"Yes I did, traveling one," Maroxe said. "And before you all get mad at me, I will say it was against my wishes, but the Daleks can be very… persuasive." He winced, remembering something unpleasant. Perhaps the Daleks he had mentioned.

"And so you _helped_ them?" Captain Harkness demanded.

"Yes, of course I did, you numbskull!" Maroxe snapped. "But at least I devised a way for The Doctor to get out, which is more than can be said for you, _Captain Harkness!_"

"What are you talking about?" The Doctor asked, watching Maroxe with an expression of slowly growing dread.

"What do you _think_, Doctor?" Maroxe replied. "Harkness has known you were inside the Pandorica right here for the past two thousand years. In fact, he was among those assigned to make sure you never got out!"

The Doctor's head turned to Captain Harkness with a betrayed expression. "Jack?"

"Doc, it's not true," Harkness insisted, "The guy's trying to trick you-"

"You're lying to me, Jack," The Doctor stopped the man cold. His face was bearing a look of bitter disappointment.

Captain Harkness sighed, looking down for a moment in shame. "It's not what you think," he said. "I _couldn't_ let you out, Doc. All the evidence pointed straight to you. I couldn't believe it, but it was there, and undeniable. Once I found a way to prove you were innocent, I was gonna let you out."

"Which would have been impossible without my help," Maroxe interjected. "Hooray me."

Harkness glared at Maroxe.

Teal'c was intrigued at how one who called himself a Lord of Time could have such a flippant, even arrogant, attitude. Of course, Teal'c was always wary around people who called themselves lords.

The Doctor's eyebrows rose as something suddenly occurred to him. "Wait, you said it was 2001," he said, turning to General Price.

The man nodded. "Yes," he said.

"But that means…" The Doctor faced Maroxe. "You shouldn't be here," he stated. "You're supposed to be somewhere else."

Maroxe nodded. "Yes, I know," he said. "I've been having the feeling that in the proper timeline I'm supposed to be in prison."

Maroxe's expression became quite puzzled as he added, "Actually, I've been having that feeling for the past twenty years. That's a long time to be in jail. I hope they have cake. I like cake."

He paused thoughtfully and mused, "I wonder which identity got me in there. Hm, probably Manwell Taylor, he's gotten me into all sorts of mischief."

Teal'c's attention had been caught by Maroxe's casual use of the words _which identity_. Manwell Taylor must be a false name, as Michael Tennyson was.

The Doctor was watching Maroxe with new eyes, as the saying went, and they were very sad. "It hasn't happened yet," he murmured under his breath.

Maroxe hadn't heard The Doctor: he was rambling on about his exploits as Manwell Taylor, bringing up various other false names he had used.

Colonel O'Neill had watched Maroxe for a while, but apparently he had reached the decision that he had heard enough. Glaring up at the clouds, he cut over Maroxe's words with a rude, "Finished yet?"

Maroxe seemed to take no offense, and he smirked, "Oh, I haven't even started."

Jack just looked at him blankly, until his eyebrows lowered and expression crept back into his features.

"You created the rising chamber?" he asked.

Maroxe nodded. "Yep."

"The Pandorica?"

"You betcha."

"The Stonehenges?"

"Uh-huh."

Something dangerous was in O'Neill's eyes. Something hostile. He walked up to Maroxe.

"You know something?" he asked, standing directly in front of the alien.

"What?" Maroxe inquired, head tilting to the side curiously.

"I don't like you," Jack said with finality.

Before Maroxe had time to react, Jack's fist connected with his face, driven by brutal force, and Maroxe was sent flying down to earth.


	23. Magical Mr Maroxe

**A\N: Oh, just realized I hadn't mentioned this in the previous** **chapter: Maroxe is _not_ The Master, he's an original character.**

**As I have mentioned previously, I have a list of all characters that appear in The Serpent's Warning, updated as I post the chapters. Contact me if you want directions to the list, as I can't put up a direct link here on Fanfic.**

**~!~!~!**

Jack looked down at Maroxe, feeling slightly surprised with himself. Normally he wasn't the sort of guy who would walk up to someone he'd known for all of ten minutes and sock him, but this was hardly a normal situation.

This alien had put the lives of his team in danger, killed Daniel (temporarily, yes, but _still_), and caused the deaths of UNIT men and women, along with Harkness' people. That made him BAD in Jack's book.

Maroxe gingerly rubbed his face. "Ow." He looked up at Jack. "I'm guessing I deserved that," he said. "Though my question is, what for."

"You've gotten a lot of people killed today, Maroxe," Jack said, his tone harsh. "You deliberately put _my team_ in danger."

If the coldness in Jack's eyes could have become physical, it would have made sitting inside an iceberg in Antarctica seem cozier than a trip to Hawaii in the summertime.

"You'd better give me a very good reason not to kill you, _Rassiloa_," the soldier growled.

"Colonel!" The Doctor protested, despite his earlier attitude towards Maroxe.

The 'captain' looked at The Doctor, a single eyebrow stretching up his forehead. "What, are you trying to get a life-debt from me now, Doctor?" he asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," The Doctor said irritably. He turned back to Jack and continued, "It's pointless to be killing people right now, Colonel."

"Universe is collapsing, anyway," Maroxe said, in such an offhand manner that Jack wasn't entirely sure that the alien was kidding.

But, he _had_ to be. Jack spent hours watching the stars, whenever he could, anyway. He'd know if the universe was falling apart.

Jack was shaken out of his thoughts by a harsh laugh. He turned, along with several others, to look at Rory. The Auton, Nestene duplicate, _whatever_ he was, looked back at Jack.

"You think that's so horrible?" he asked, his _think_ sounding more like _fink_.

Rory laughed, but to Jack's ears it seemed closer to a sob.

"You think it's so bad when it's just the people who work with you?" he asked, his voice rising.

"Rory, stop," The Doctor said quietly.

"Nonono, I won't stop," Rory shook his head vehemently. "I won't ever stop. I _can't_ stop!"

He pointed an accusing finger at Jack, crying, "He doesn't know anything about pain, about loss!"

Jack stepped back as Rory's mad, agonized gaze fell on him, and the man just about screamed, "I killed my fiancé! I loved her, and I didn't want to do it, _but it just wouldn't stop_."

Rory crumpled, tears running down his face, and he whispered, "We were getting married in the morning. And I killed her."

Silence fell, broken only by Rory's weeping. The Doctor went to him, trying to comfort the man, but he himself looked shell-shocked.

"Oh, Rory," he murmured.

Maroxe had stood back up, and he looked at The Doctor seriously. "That's not programming," he said.

The Doctor nodded. "The Autons got more than they bargained for when they took a scan of Amy's mind. They didn't just get the memories of Rory Williams; they got his heart and his soul. Amy is…was… no ordinary girl. She grew up with a Crack in time in her bedroom wall, the secrets of the universe pouring through her dreams…"

"And she survived?" Maroxe looked amazed. "Incredible."

"Oh, she was," The Doctor smiled warmly. The brief expression of light faded, however, and the Time Lord sadly murmured, "I just can't believe she's dead. For two thousand years she's been dead."

"Um, actually…"

All eyes went to Maroxe, who was suddenly completely absorbed in the fascinating examination of his fingers.

"Maroxe," The Doctor said slowly. "What have you done?"

"Ah, well…"

"Maroxekalononbach Rassiloa, don't make me ask again."

"Well, if you'd just let me finish my sentences, we can get somewhere," Maroxe said with a flash of irritation. "What I'm trying to say is, Amelia Pond is not dead."

"What?" Rory gasped. "But… but I…"

"Killed her? That's where you're mistaken, plastic one," Maroxe said. "You see, she was only mostly dead, which, as I'm sure everyone here knows, means she was still slightly alive! Now, I didn't have any chocolate handy at the time, but I do possess Amelia Pond's body and a scan of her living DNA, so I could bring her back in a jiff."

"You… you can do that? You can _really_ do that?" Rory asked, the desperate hope in his eyes clear for all to see.

The poor guy was pretty messed up. His predicament reminded Jack eerily of the Harlan android incident, and as such he felt some amount of sympathy for the man. Alien. Machine. It didn't matter. According to The Doctor (he wasn't going to take Maroxe's word on any occasion!), Rory had a soul.

From the genuine anguish in the man's eyes, Jack knew The Doctor was right.

Jack realized that Maroxe's eyes were resting on him, analytical gray gaze seeing much more than Jack was comfortable with. Jack had the strange feeling that he was being invaded, and a swift raising in mental protection brought a look of surprise to Maroxe's face.

"So you're the genetic key," he commented. He looked over at Rory and said, "No, plastic one, I haven't forgotten you, I was just seeing who exactly it was that sprung The Doctor out of the Pandorica. Couldn't check Dr. Jackson's mind, it's still restarting itself from coming back from the dead and sort of running in circles, so I took a peek at Colonel O'Neill over here."

"Pardon me, 'checking minds'?" Daniel asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Maroxe blinked at Daniel a moment before saying, "Well, Time Lords are telepathic."

This caused a small flurry of excitement among those who hadn't known, and Maroxe raised his voice to go on, "But, now, now, my acquaintances, we are forgetting the plastic one and his desires."

He looked back over at Rory, a hint of admiration in his eyes. "It's been nearly two thousand years since he last held his ladylove's hand, and I've seen how he misses her terribly."

"Then why didn't you bring her back before?" Rory asked, a biting, accusatory note in his words.

"Because she would have grown old and died before The Doctor got out of the Pandorica. The reason I set the timer for 2,000 years was so The Doctor could find relatively advanced technology at his disposal-well, something better than rocks and spears, anyway. But come!" Maroxe slapped his hands together and rubbed them against each other.

"A reunion is due to take place. I like reunions, reunions are grand, rather sweet." Maroxe paused a second before adding, "Of course, with me, a reunion means someone's going to try to kill me. Not so sweet."

"Due to your charming demeanor, I shouldn't wonder," General Price said sarcastically.

"I know, and I'm such a _likeable _fellow!" Maroxe exclaimed. "But, enough distractions."

His expression suddenly became quite serious, and he laid a hand on Rory's shoulder as he solemnly told the man, "I'm bringing Amy back home, Rory."

Then, much to everybody's surprise, Maroxe disappeared.


	24. Recollections

A long silence followed Maroxe's disappearing act.

"How did he do that?" someone asked.

The Doctor quickly checked his pockets before saying, "Well, he didn't steal River's Vortex Manipulator, I've still got it in my pocket. My guess is that he either built himself a teleportation device or stole it from someone else."

"He built it, Sir," a private spoke up, an Irishman by his tones. "I recognized the flash; it's exactly like the equipment he built for us."

"_Built_ for you?" The Doctor repeated.

"Yes, Doctor," General Price nodded. "Captain Tennyson was a technological genius. He built us devices for-" The general suddenly went white, and he whispered, "We've been having a rogue Time Lord building alien technology right under our noses."

"It goes against almost every rule in the book," The Doctor said. "But then, Maroxe has never been one for rules."

Daniel looked over at Jack when The Doctor said that. _If this man has murdered, and is completely untrustworthy, why did The Doctor refuse to let Jack hurt him?_

"Then… he was lying about Amy?" Rory asked, his voice cracking.

"He _seemed_ to mean it," The Doctor said. "But with Maroxe, you just don't know."

"He'll bring her," Rory said firmly. "Maroxe lies, yes, and he lies a lot. But he also knows how to tell the truth. I've known Maroxe for nearly two thousand years, and I can tell when he's isn't lying. He _will_ bring Amy back."

The Doctor looked doubtful. "Rory, I've known Maroxe for a long time-"

"Through the window of history, and some brief encounters," Rory cut the Time Lord off in an unusual act of rudeness. "As I said, Doctor, I've known Maroxe, known him well, for the past two thousand years.

"You might not believe this, Doctor, but Maroxe is the one who stopped me from committing suicide after I killed Amy. He said that if I managed to survive long enough, I could wait until Amy's time, and convince her not to go with you. Or to keep you from going inside Amy's house.

"Maroxe convinced me that there was a possibility I could save her. What he didn't tell me was that he already had Amy's body and only needed to wait until he had a way to bring her back."

"How can you trust someone who lies to you, Rory?" The Doctor demanded.

"And you always tell us the truth?" Rory challenged the Time Lord. "Maroxe may not always be honest, but he's a good man. As good as you. I've known him long enough to be certain that I can trust him. Even though I admit it isn't easy."

The Doctor's expression was cynical, but he didn't say anything more to the man.

Daniel looked at Rory thoughtfully. The nearly two-thousand-year-old man didn't seem to radiate knowledge, but there was an air of grief about him, a clinging guilt. Daniel understood. He had lost his wife to the Goa'uld. This man had it even worse, though. They weren't even married yet, and she had died by his own hand.

Daniel was constantly blaming himself for Sha're, but to live for two thousand years with the memory of actually killing her… It would have driven him mad.

Daniel's focus distracted away from Rory when Captain Harkness walked past the ancient man and approached The Doctor.

"Doctor, does this Maroxe guy have many aliases?" he asked.

"Undoubtedly," The Doctor replied. "Though, he has a fondness for the initials MT."

"Uh-huh." Captain Harkness paused, thinking for a moment before saying, "I think I know him."

The Doctor looked at him for a moment. "Not surprising," he said. "Maroxe gets around on Earth a fair bit more than the average person."

"I can't quite remember it," Harkness said. "It's like it's at the very back of my mind and I can't reach it. But… I did see something."

The Doctor looked at Harkness intently, and Daniel's heart started beating faster, as it did when something important was about to be discovered.

"When he was reading Colonel O'Neill's mind," Harkness said. "His eyes turned black. Not just the center, the entire eye. And it wasn't just black, it was the blackest black, blacker than a black hole. And I've _seen_ black holes."

"So have I," The Doctor murmured. He was deathly pale. "Jack, that wasn't Maroxe you met, that was The Night." He looked amazed as he added, "And you survived."

"Doc, I'm immortal. I haven't found anything that can kill me."

Daniel's eyes shot wide, and the word tumbled out of his lips before he could think to stop himself, "Immortal?"

It seemed that no one else had known, except for a handful of Harkness' people, for all were staring at each other and Captain Harkness in shock.

The Doctor and Harkness ignored the reactions, acting like they hadn't noticed them, and The Doctor gave his reply to Harkness' comment.

"Jack, this is the same thing as Bad Wolf," The Doctor said. "You know, that thing that came out of the Time Vortex and went into Rose and made you what you are? The Night is the same species, but vicious and hostile. It could undo what Bad Wolf did. I don't get why it didn't, though. Maybe Maroxe protected you."

"I thought you said it wasn't Maroxe," Harkness said, confused.

"Maroxe is the host," The Doctor said. "He and The Night are constantly battling for control. The times The Night has gotten it… well, let's just say it wasn't pretty. That thing's used him to commit homicide, genocide, and murder his own TARDIS."

"Then why did you call him a killer before?" Daniel asked.

"I couldn't say anything with him around," The Doctor explained. "I'm not supposed to know the truth about him yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Timey-wimey?" Harkness asked.

The Doctor winced slightly before nodding, "Yes. My past self learns the truth about him from his future self, about ten years from now."

"So that's what you meant when you said 'it hasn't happened yet' earlier," Price said.

"Yeah."

Daniel's eyebrows rose. "Time travel must get pretty confusing," he remarked.

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, you can't keep it straight in your head," he said. "I've started keeping a diary again."

"You're a _time traveler_?" Sam tried not to gape at The Doctor, but she wasn't quite capable of restraining herself.

"Careful, Doc, she's a scientist," Jack said in light tones.

Sam glanced over at her commanding officer with a small frown, but said nothing.

"Pardon me for moving the subject back a ways, Doctor, but in light of this new information, can we trust Maroxe?" General Price asked.

"I don't know," The Doctor admitted. "Whether or not The Night is even present in Maroxe's mind anymore, he's still mad. And I don't mean angry, I mean crazy, insane, and bonkers. Maroxe's mind has been distorted on a frightening level. I have no idea if he's trustworthy."

"I do," Rory said. "He told me his story, or some of it, anyway. That… thing is gone. He thinks it has something to do with the universe collapsing." Looking around, he groaned, "What's _taking_ him so long?"

As if on command, Maroxe appeared, quickly shoving a loudly protesting red-haired woman away from him.

"She's definitely Scottish!" he exclaimed.

The woman turned and shouted angrily, "Now, you're going to tell me where the he-" She froze stock-still when she heard her name.

"Amy?"

Amy turned around and saw Rory, standing there looking at her, the old tearstains obvious on his face.

"Rory?" Amy whispered. Her eyes grew wide. "Rory!" she cried, and rushed into his waiting arms.

"Amy, Amy, I'm so sorry," Rory said into her ear as he held her tight. "I thought I'd lost you forever."

"Yeah, well, that's what I thought when you died," Amy sniffed, trying to lighten the mood. "So I guess we're even."

Rory stepped back from her and cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs gently stroking pale cheeks. Rory looked at her, tears rolling freely down his face, and he whispered brokenly, "I've thought you were dead for two thousand years."

Amy's eyes filled, and she gently placed her hand on Rory's cheek, feeling his tears soak through her cloth glove.

"I'm here, Rory. And I'm staying," she promised.

Rory sobbed, and pulled her back into his arms. Rubbing his shaking back, and with tears rolling down her own cheeks, Amy said, "Hey, stop crying."

"Why?" Rory asked.

Amy looked up at Rory and replied, "Because I'm back."

She pulled him into a passionate kiss.

Standing next to Higgie, Maroxe smiled. "It's moments like this when I'm glad I've trudged through 5,605 years of life," he told the _much_ younger man.

Higgie nodded. "Aye, 'tis," he agreed. Higgie looked over at where Amy and Rory were standing with arms wrapped around each other as they kissed.

"'Tis," he said again with a small smile.


	25. Accusation

Sam couldn't deny the emotional reunion of Rory and Amy had left her a bit choked up. Looking around proved that not one human, Jaffa, or Time Lord was unaffected by the couple's happiness.

Of course, Kel'tar sneered in distaste, and Restac still wore her customary scowl. Naturally, it was her who shattered the moment of bliss.

"You consider Maroxe to be evil, with his murders and genocides." The Silurian chuckled, and Sam knew something nasty was about to come. "That is nothing," Restac said. "The one you call _friend_ and _healer_ is going to destroy the universe."

Everyone started to look at Rory, until The Doctor groaned. "You _still_ believe that?" he asked.

"Wait," Jack said, lifting his P90 and taking a step back. "You're going to _destroy_ the _universe_?"

"That's why you were in the Pandorica," Daniel realized. "The Goa'uld called you their worst enemy, not because you fought them, but because you were going to completely obliterate everything."

"Guess the Goa'uld considered that just a tad too evil for their tastes," Jack remarked.

"Um, Doctor?" Rory started to ask, looking confused. "What do they mean? I've heard talk about you destroying the universe and all, but that just doesn't make sense. You wouldn't do that."

"No, you wouldn't," General Price agreed. "Unless you went insane, like this Maroxe fellow."

"Not likely," Maroxe said. "Besides, I'm a very unique sort of crazy. Well, in this part of the universe, anyway."

"Then why does everyone think the Doctor'll destroy the universe?" Rory wondered.

"Because it's caused by an exploding TARDIS. _My _TARDIS," The Doctor explained. "And since all my enemies know I'm the last of the Time Lords-"

"Excuse me?" Maroxe interrupted indignantly. "I'm standing right here, you know."

The Doctor ignored Maroxe's outburst and continued. "-they decided that I'm the only living being who can fly the TARDIS, and so I'm the one who's going to destroy the universe."

"But you're not the only one," Amy said. "River can fly the TARDIS, too."

"Yes, but the Alliance didn't know that," The Doctor said.

"Frankly, I don't think they cared," Maroxe said. He shrugged and added, "Besides, it doesn't matter what they thought. Most of them have blinked out of existence anyway."

"Blinked out of existence?" Daniel repeated, looking alarmed. "What exactly does _that_ mean?"

For a response, Maroxe turned to General Price. "General, tell me about the Daleks," he said.

Price blinked. "The Daleks?" he asked. "The aliens you were talking about before?"

"Yes. Tell me about them."

General Price looked confused. "I-I can't," he said. "I've never heard of them."

"That's because the Daleks never existed," The Doctor said.

Sam blinked. "Never existed?" she echoed. "If that's the case, how can you and Maroxe remember the Daleks?"

"Hey, I remember the Daleks," Captain Harkness said.

"So do I," Rory added.

"Me too," put in Amy.

"But how?" Sam persisted. "Why would you remember something that never existed, and not us?"

"We're time travelers," Amy explained. "When people disappear into the cracks, we still remember them."

"Cracks in what?" Jack asked.

Amy turned to look at the colonel and he shrugged. "Just wonderin'."

"Cracks in time," Maroxe explained. "Number one fabric of reality."

"And how exactly does time _crack_?"

"It doesn't," The Doctor said. "Not naturally. There's an explosion, one big enough to punch a hole in the universe. Every universe."

"Holy Hannah," Sam whispered, shocked by the thought of a detonation so huge it could wipe out every single reality.

"And this TARDIS of yours has exploded, so therefore the universe is going to collapse," Jack said.

"Not just collapse," The Doctor said. "It will never have happened. The TARDIS exists everywhere at every point in history. An explosion of something like that, happening at every moment… it would undo the entire universe."

"Now, if there were another TARDIS to counteract the effect, only a handful of solar systems would blink out," Maroxe said. "Two to three TARDIS', maybe just a planet. But the Doctor has the only remaining TARDIS in existence. With nothing to reduce the destruction of one of those exploding, well… bye-bye, universe."

"That's madness," General Price stated.

"No, it's Sparta," Maroxe replied. He frowned. "My family grew TARDIS' for a living, General. I know what I'm talking about."

"It's true, if another TARDIS existed, it would prevent this," The Doctor confirmed. "But there isn't another TARDIS."

"What _is_ a TARDIS?" Sam asked.

"Time And Relative Dimensions In Space," The Doctor reeled off the full name. "It's a ship, a time ship, that can go anywhere and anywhen in the universe. It runs on time, which is what makes it so completely different from all other time machines."

"Plus they're sentient," Maroxe added.

"And you're saying that the last one has just exploded," Sam said, getting the familiar feeling that came along whenever SG-1 got thrown into a situation in which they had to save frikkin' everyone in the next forty-five minutes.

"Explod_ing_," The Doctor corrected her. "If it had finished we wouldn't be standing here right now."

"As it is, those Torchwood fellows are gone now," Maroxe said.

Everyone looked around.

"Torchwood?" one of the UNIT men repeated. "What's that?"

"There is no Torchwood," The Doctor said. "From now on it never existed."

Sam exchanged looks with her teammates. She couldn't recall anything about this Torchwood. Although, she could feel just a hint of a memory scratching at the back of her mind, irritatingly beyond Sam's reach.

"Okay, Doc, you're seriously starting to freak me out," Harkness said in low tones. "What's going on?"

"The explosion's speeding up," Maroxe said. "I knew that would happen once the Pandorica got unsealed. Something to do with the way it's made."

"Doctor, I think now would be a good time to start hurrying," Rory said.

"I quite agree with the plastic one," Maroxe said with a nod.

Suddenly the Time Lord froze, staring at The Doctor with a don't-move-there's-a-bee-on-your-back expression.

"Doctor," he said slowly, "Behind you."

The Doctor turned to look, and leaped away, shouting at everyone, "Get back!"

Everyone stumbled away, staring in alarm at what had caused the Doctor such panic. Stretching across the grassy ground, glowing white, was a crack.


	26. Unraveling

Davis wasn't really sure why the wobbley glowing line in the ground was such a scary thing. Now, he wasn't disagreeing that a big crack in the earth emitting white light was weird, but he didn't understand why The Doctor and his friends (and enemies) were so alarmed by it.

"What _is_ that?" Carter asked.

"It's a crack in Time," The Doctor replied. "Don't let the light touch you! It would erase you from history. You'll have never been born."

"I've seen it happen," Amy said. She shuddered. "It was awful. The Crack just ate them, and then no one remembered them anymore, except for me."

"Like what happened just now," The Doctor said. "Except for Jack, all of the Torchwood people just vanished. But none of you remember them, because now Torchwood never existed."

"Wait," Davis interjected. "You mean that happened just now?"

"'Bout five minutes ago," Maroxe replied.

"There were at least ten of them," Rory said.

"And now they're all gone?" Sam asked, looking stunned.

"They were never born," The Doctor said.

Things were spinning out of Davis' control faster and faster. He closed his eyes a moment, feeling sick.

_People here a moment ago were never born, never remembered. That's horrible._ Davis opened his eyes. _Get ahold of yourself, Paul. There's still a way._

"How do we stop this?" Davis asked.

Everyone turned to look at him, and Davis focused on The Doctor. "There _is_ a way to stop it, isn't there?"

"Yes," The Doctor said slowly. He smiled and continued, "Yes, of course there's a way. There's always a way. And I'm good at finding ways, I'm the king of finding ways."

"You're lying, aren't you," Davis said.

"Yeah," The Doctor admitted.

"But that doesn't mean it can't done," Maroxe said.

"It only means it _nearly_ can't be done!" The Doctor exclaimed cheerfully.

"So, what's your plan, then, Doctor?" General Price asked.

"Well, first I've got to find the TARDIS." The Doctor clambered on top of one of the pieces of ex-Stonehenge and looked around. He paused and suddenly demanded of General Price, "Why is it brighter?"

Price's brow furrowed in puzzlement. "Beg pardon?"

"It's _brighter_," The Doctor said with a slightly exasperated tone. "It's cloudy, but it's brighter. That's not normal."

He started to stamp his feet against the rock, and a few times jumped up to slam both soles upon the fallen pillar.

"The planet's turning differently," The Doctor stated. "That's not right, not normal. The only reason the earth's rotation would change was if…"

His eyes became quite large then, and he concluded, "…there was something else to rotate around."

Rory started exclaiming excitedly and pointed at The Doctor. "The second sun!"

"_Second_ sun?" The Doctor's thin eyebrows rose. "Since when did Earth have two suns?"

"Since never!" Amy exclaimed. "The second sun, it has to be the TARDIS!"

"Yes, but where?" Maroxe wondered. "We know she's there, but we can't see her, and I don't know if we have anything capable of telling a sun from a blowing up TARDIS with us."

"You mean our second sun isn't a sun at all?" Sam was looking up with the surprised expression that seemed to have tacked itself to her face.

"Not at all," Maroxe said cheerily. "It makes sense she would be here, really. This planet is where the explosion originates, from what I've heard."

The Doctor nodded in confirmation.

"The Crack's gone," Colonel O'Neill said.

Everyone looked, and a small amount of the tension eased.

"That doesn't mean the danger's over," Maroxe warned.

The Doctor, pacing up and down his horizontal pillar, stopped and pointed at Higgie. "You, do you have a radio?"

"Yes, Sir," Higgie replied, as he handed it over.

"That's 'Doctor', not 'Sir'," The Doctor corrected the younger man before continuing on with his business. He held the radio with one hand as the other whipped a strange rod out of his pocket. He pointed it at the radio, and with a strange, vibrating sort of noise, the tip of the rod glowed green.

Maroxe glanced up, then exclaimed, "Oh!" He started fishing through his pockets. "That reminds me," he said, "while I was fetching Amy, I got a little something for Kel'tar here."

"I have no interest in what you have to offer," Kel'tar snapped.

"Too bad for you, snaky one, because you're going to get it anyway," Maroxe replied. He pulled something with several straps on it out of his pocket and walked over to Kel'tar.

"This device will enable the parasite and the host to speak independently," Maroxe told everybody. "The light will show red when Kel'tar's talking, blue when it's Hodges. I based it off of the Tollan device."

_Tollan?_ Davis' eyebrows rose. i_That's a surprise._

Maroxe paused before adding, "I should warn you, Hodges will likely be very panicky. He can't have been a host for more than a day."

He turned to Price. "General, with your permission?"

General Price nodded. "Do it," he said.

Maroxe turned back to Kel'tar, but he dropped the device in shock and fumbled to catch the Goa'uld when it suddenly crumpled to the ground. The host wasn't breathing.


	27. Snap

"_Hodges!_"

Teal'c stepped aside as Private Higgie rushed past him and crashed to his knees beside his fallen comrade. "Hodges, come on, wake up!"

"He's dead, Private," Maroxe said.

"No, he's not!" Higgie said fiercely. "I can bring him back! I can… I can…"

"Here," Rory ran up to him. "Let me."

Higgie blinked up at him, suspicion flitting across his face. "Ye're an Auton."

"Don't worry," Rory said, kneeling down on Hodges' other side. "I was a nurse in a past life."

He began pressing down on Hodges' chest, quietly counting and moving to breathe into Hodges' mouth at the appropriate times.

Maroxe watched him. "There's nothing wrong with his heart, plastic one," he said softly.

Rory and Higgie each ignored the Time Lord.

"Come on, Hodges, breathe," Higgie pleaded. "Come back to us." He grabbed Hodges' forearm and hissed, "_Ivan_. Man, ye can fight this! Whatever this creature is doing to ye, ye can fight it! Can ye hear me, Ivan Hodges?"

Rory was still trying, but to no avail.

"Plastic one, stop," Maroxe whispered.

"No," Rory growled. "I'm not giving up on him."

"There's nothing wrong with his heart, Rory!" Maroxe roared. "Don't you understand? There's nothing you can do!"

"Stop saying that," Higgie cried weakly.

"It's true," Maroxe said. "Private Hodges is gone. The Goa'uld parasite was wrapped around his spinal cord, and imbedded in his brain."

"What does that have to do with it?" Higgie demanded.

"It's turned to stone." Maroxe looked over at Rory. "You know what I'm talking about, plastic one."

"The Goa'uld have just been erased," Rory said, his voice hollow with defeat.

"Exactly," Maroxe nodded. "Having the creature turn to stone when entwined around the neck and imbedded in the brain... it killed Hodges instantly."

"No," Higgie whimpered, bowing his head. "No."

"Denial's not going to bring him back, Higgie," Maroxe said gently. "Believe me, I've tried that. There's nothing anyone can do, lad."

Tears spilled from Higgie's eyes. "He was my best mate," the young man cried.

"I know, Higgie," Rory said. "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

Teal'c could see the agony the private was suffering. Hodges had been a dear friend to the young Tauri, a brother. And Teal'c knew how it felt to lose a brother.

Higgie looked up when The Doctor approached and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Private," he said. "But we must mourn him later, when the universe is safe."

"Have you found the TARDIS?" Maroxe asked, deciding it would be best to draw the focus of attention away from Hodges.

"Yes." The Doctor lifted the radio and pointed his rod at it. With a hum of power the tip glowed green and a loud, wheezing noise came through the radio.

Maroxe smiled. "Oh, well done, Doctor. Do you know her exact location?"

"Ye-"

"Doctor, there's something else," Rory said, lifting a finger.

"I don't hear anything," Amy said.

"Trust the plastic," Rory told her with just a hint of irritation.

The Doctor shook his rod, then pointed it at the radio again. A woman's voice came out of it, repeating the same words over and over. "_I'm sorry my love, I'm sorry my love._"

"Doctor, that's River," Amy said.

"River? River Song?" Captain Harkness and Maroxe both asked.

They looked at each other.

"How do you know River?" Harkness asked.

"She tried to kill me," Maroxe replied. "You?"

"Same."

"Oh, darn, we do have something in common."

"Doctor, what is this River doing inside your exploding TARDIS?" General Price asked.

"TARDIS emergency protocols," The Doctor answered. "It puts the control room into a time loop to protect anyone who might be inside."

"Well, since she's not going to die anytime soon, do you think we could just… leave her there?" Maroxe suggested.

Harkness' head bobbed in agreement.

"Absolutely not!" The Doctor exclaimed, looking outraged. "Whatever made you think I'd do _that_?"

"Well, knowing River Song," Maroxe said, shifting awkwardly. "She has a gun. And when she sees me… she'll shoot it." He exemplified with his hands.

"And me," Harkness added.

The Doctor looked puzzled. "Why would River try to kill you, Jack?" he asked.

Harkness grimaced. "Rogue Time Agent days."

"Oh." The Doctor then frowned. "But you don't have to worry about River, she can't kill you." 

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Maroxe warned. "She's River Song."

The Doctor shook his head and started fiddling with a device he'd taken out of his pocket and fastened around his wrist. A second later he vanished, leaving a thin cloud of smoke.

"Now where did he get a Vortex Manipulator?" Maroxe wondered aloud.

Harkness shrugged. "Beats me."

Maroxe looked at him and stated, "I wasn't talking to you," and took a large step away from him.

Harkness frowned. "Why don't you like me?" he asked.

"Because you're creepy, that's why," Maroxe responded. "Honestly, does a fellow need more reason than that?"

"Um, yeah," Harkness said indignantly.

"Huh." Maroxe paused thoughtfully and then shrugged. "Well, I don't need reasons."

He strode past the flustered man and looked over at Teal'c. "It suddenly occurs to me that you haven't fallen over dead yet, Jaffa."

He stopped and looked around at everybody incredulously. "And none of you have forgotten the Goa'uld," he said. "Not one. The Goa'uld have never existed and you still remember them. That's impossible, unless all of you are suddenly time travelers."

"We have traveled through time," Sam said. "Once."

Maroxe regarded Sam with surprise. "Really?"

"Indeed," Teal'c nodded.

"Hm. Considering your preferred mode of travel, I'd say it was a malfunction of the Stargate. Except the Stargates never existed." Maroxe grinned. "Oh, I just _love_ inexplicable anomalies."

He turned to Teal'c. "Which brings me back to you," he said. "Since the Goa'uld no longer exist, neither do the Jaffa. So how come you aren't dying with a stone snake in your belly?"

Teal'c arched an eyebrow at Maroxe's question.

"He does have a point," Sam said to Teal'c. "If Kel'tar died, why didn't the Goa'uld larva?"

"Maybe because it's younger?" Jack suggested.

"No, that doesn't make sense," Maroxe said.

"And what today has?" Jack asked.

Maroxe's head bobbed briefly. "Good point."

He turned to where Higgie was now standing next to Rory with a grim expression on his face. One didn't have to be telepathic to guess what was going on in that kid's head.

"Higgie," Maroxe said, studying the young man intently, "I've been wanting to ask you something."

"Aye?" Higgie sounded indifferent, still staring down at Hodges' corpse.

"Are you a companion of the Doctor's?"

Higgie looked up sharply, completely stunned by the question. He stared at Maroxe for a moment before stuttering out, "How did ye know?"

"Oh, just something in the attitude," Maroxe said vaguely. "Plus, you understood what Restac said when she insulted me in Silurian earlier."

"Just don't tell The Doctor," the Irishman said. "He's not supposed to know."

"He's probably figured it out already," Maroxe shrugged. "But, if you don't want me to say anything, I won't. It's all rather fair, I suppose. You all know a secret about me, and a secret about The Doctor. I know a secret about The Doctor, and he knows a secret about me."

"Had enough secret knowing yet?" Jack asked dryly.

"Very funny, Colonel, and yes, I did catch my redundancy," Maroxe said ill temperedly.

"Just checking." Jack smiled, but his eyes were still cold.

"Dr. Williams!" A doctor burst out of the medical tent with an obviously alarmed expression. "The patients are gone!"


	28. Flashes

Jack's grip tightened on his P90 as the tension escalated. He noticed that the kid whose friend had been taken by the Goa'uld, Private Higgie, looked like he was on the verge of hitting the panic button.

"Gone? All of them?" Rory asked.

The young doctor nodded. "Yes, doctor."

Rory listed off a collection of names quickly. "Major Mason? Private Saxon? Captain Bennett? Private Tack? Colonel Gregson? Brigadier Collins?"

Jack saw Sam start at the last two names, especially the first one, and she looked back at Jack, blue eyes wide with shock.

Jack remembered Gregson and Collins. They'd been standing together with the air of a long comradeship. Jack wasn't sure why hearing the names had shocked Sam so. He'd have to talk to her about it later.

Rory had continued to reel off names, and to each one the younger doctor shook his head. When Rory finished, he said, "All of them, Doctor. It's as if they were never there."

At the words _were never there_, Jack's age-old gut-level bad feeling kicked in at full capacity. He looked around at his team, and the emotions in each of their eyes reflected his own,

Just then, The Doctor reappeared in the same spot he'd vanished from, a curly-haired woman on his arm.

"River!" Amy greeted her, looking relieved to have something to be happy about.

River smiled back at Amy.

"Amy," she said cheerfully. She took in the scene before her, and her gaze fell on Rory. "And the plastic centurion?" She looked up at The Doctor with an alarmed expression until the Time Lord reassured her, "It's alright, he's on our side."

"Oh." She relaxed, and smiled at Rory amiably.

Then River saw Maroxe.

There was no hesitation this time, no looking up to The Doctor for guidance. She whipped out her sidearm and a blast of energy shot out. With a startled yelp, Maroxe leapt away.

"Just what sort of women are you dating these days, Doctor?" he demanded of his fellow Time Lord, who was frantically trying to get River to stop shooting at Maroxe.

She was ignoring his pleas, and finally out of sheer desperation The Doctor grabbed her in a sort of hug, pinning her arms to her sides. River struggled furiously.

"River, stop this," The Doctor said quietly.

"Don't you know who he is?" River demanded as she glared at Maroxe, who was standing warily with an expression that couldn't be described as anything other than spooked.

"Yes," The Doctor replied, glancing up at Maroxe.

"Then you know he's a murderer!" River exclaimed, twisting her neck around to look at The Doctor. "Since when have you been interested in protecting homicidal maniacs?"

"River," The Doctor said slowly, "he's a Time Lord."

River blinked up at The Doctor, looked over at Maroxe, and stared up at The Doctor again.

"He can't be."

"He is."

Something sad flickered in The Doctor's gaze a moment, and his tone was soft as he looked down at her intently. "Promise me you won't hurt him."

"What? Doctor, he's-"

"River." The Doctor said her name with an authority Jack had rarely heard in his life. "Promise me."

River looked at the Doctor for a long time before sighing. "All right. I'll do it your way."

The Doctor nodded and released her. River reluctantly holstered her weapon, watching Maroxe suspiciously as she did so.

She smiled at The Doctor and remarked teasingly, "I'd forgotten how strong you are."

Maroxe snorted loudly, and blanched when River turned an icy glare on him.

"Cough," he said quickly, "It was a cough."

Jack looked up sharply as the sky abruptly became much darker. He heard confused murmurs from all the people, and as he looked back down he saw Maroxe and The Doctor looking at each other with ashen faces.

"That was the sun," Jack realized.

The Doctor nodded, started talking, but Maroxe groaned, clutching his head.

"This is going too fast," he groaned. "I hadn't planned on this."

"Planned?" River looked over at The Doctor. "We're running on _his_ plan?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Sort of."

"We can't trust him," River protested. "He's a psychopath!"

"Not entirely," Maroxe said. "You know me as a homicidal maniac, River, but this is an alternate timeline. Something that was never meant to happen, and if it's fixed, never will. In this timeline-can we call it the Pandorica timeline?"

"Sure," The Doctor agreed.

"Great. In the Pandorica timeline, I never become a killer. You're an experienced time traveler, River. Tell me, have you ever heard of Time Entities?"

River nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, well, in Real timeline, I had one force-downloaded into my brain, a hostile. It made me a killer. Here, with time and the universe and everything fracturing, everything's bleeding through the edges, and that includes, you guessed it, the Entity in my head. I can barely sense it. It's like a footprint without a foot. Quite a relief, I can tell you."

"But how do we know we can trust you?" River demanded.

"You don't," Maroxe shrugged. "But we're all you've got. Some bewildered blokes from UNIT, lizard people with anger management problems, a hopelessly romantic Nestene duplicate, a woman returned from the dead, a highly cabin-fevered Time Lord, a weird ex-Time Agent, the famous SG-1, plus a man from the Pentagon-"

_How did he know who we are?_ Jack wondered before remembering, _Oh, right. Telepath._

"-a trigger-happy archeologist from the 51st century, and a former homicidal lunatic."

"I'm sure we'll all get along _famously_," said Jack, with obvious sarcasm.

"You can take out the anger management part," General Price said. "Restac and her crew are gone."

"What a rotten shame," Maroxe said altogether too gleefully.

"They must have gone back underneath the surface," The Doctor said.

"No, they're gone," Rory said tiredly. "Along with all the patients in the medical tent."

"I have to get the Pandorica," Maroxe cut in abruptly.

He ran for the entrance to the Underhenge. Jack nodded over at Sam, and the two warriors followed after the Time Lord.

"Oh, hello," Maroxe greeted them as they entered the chamber. He was digging around inside the Pandorica, and after acknowledging them he stuck his head back inside the box.

Jack looked over at Sam.

"Social kind of guy," he commented.

"Yeah," Sam said.

"Thanks for coming," Maroxe called back to Jack and Sam. "I could use some help."

He came out of the Pandorica, bonking his head on the top of the Pandorica.

This, naturally, made Jack grin.

Maroxe finished emerging from the Pandorica, muttering to himself in a foreign tongue. He tossed a pair of objects to Jack and Sam and instructed, "Put them on the center circle of the patterns," before turning and once again burying himself inside the Pandorica.

Jack glanced over at Sam, shrugged in reply. They split up and took opposite sides of the Pandorica.

Jack examined the objects in his hands curiously. They were identical, hemispheric in shape, and surprisingly heavy for their size. Jack didn't deny the things were on the large side, each about the size of a giant scone.

Jack experimentally stuck them together, making a perfect sphere. He separated them hemispheres again and took in the devices' other details.

They were primarily made of a metallic material, the same color as the Pandorica. In the center of the dome's top was a large, round light. Surrounding it in thin rings were three other lights. Lastly, the rims of the hemispheres were covered in small, rectangular lights. Each of the lights glowed a piercing white.

Finished examining Maroxe's gadgets, Jack placed one of the hemispheres on the metal circle in the middle of that side of the Pandorica. It stuck there and the lights switched from white to green.

Jack's eyebrows rose. "Sweet," he remarked, with some uncertainty.

Was it just him, or had he heard Maroxe snicker from inside the Pandorica?

Jack moved on and quickly put the other hemisphere in place. He and Sam both returned to where they had been watching Maroxe before.

After some more tinkering and head bonking and a bit of finger burning, Maroxe emerged with a triumphant expression.

"Well, I think that about does it," he said.

The Time Lord then placed his hand on the side of the Pandorica, and the box sealed shut. The chamber was plunged into darkness, until Jack and Sam clicked on the lights mounted on their P90s.

"Oh, yes, thank you," Maroxe said. "Colonel, would you mind pointing your light over my left arm? Yes, that will do."

Maroxe pulled up his sleeve, revealing a strange device strapped around his forearm. Jack recognized circle, ring, and rectangle patterns similar to the ones on the devices Maroxe had Jack and Sam put on the Pandorica.

Beeps testified to Maroxe's fiddling, and Jack looked back at the Pandorica as the hemispheres began pulsing in white and green. A number appeared on the tiny screen on Maroxe's device: ten. Then it changed to nine.

"Oh, by the way," Maroxe said, looking over at Jack and Sam. "This could kill us."

The room exploded in white and green light.


	29. Explanations

Daniel watched as Jack and Sam left to follow Maroxe, a part of him wondering just how much of a chance they stood against the Time Lord.

The Doctor picked up his conversation with Rory right where Maroxe had interrupted it. "Gone?" The Doctor repeated. "But they can't be gone, that doesn't make sense. If they were gone, the other humans wouldn't remember them."

"But they do," said Rory. "They remember the Goa'uld and the Stargates and the Silurians and the patients, even though now they never existed."

"That's impossible," The Doctor stated.

"Well, you did say the universe is huge and ridiculous, and sometimes there are miracles,"  
>Rory answered.<p>

"Like us remembering," Daniel said. "And Teal'c still being alive."

"But do we even know if Teal'c is still a Jaffa?" The Doctor asked.

Everyone looked over at the warrior.

"He does have a point, Teal'c," Daniel said to his teammate. "If the Goa'uld never existed, then neither did the Jaffa. Maybe you should check to, ah… see if Junior's still there."

Teal'c nodded. "Very well, Daniel Jackson."

He undid the buttons and clasps on his jacket and vest, and lifted up his shirt. UNIT, River, and Amy flinched back when the squeaking larval Goa'uld pushed its head out of the pouch in Teal'c's abdomen.

"Okay, Teal'c, that's enough," Daniel said, feeling a bit ill.

Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgement and concealed the infant Goa'uld once more.

"That's-that's the same thing that was in Hodges?" Higgie asked.

"In its infantile form, yes," Daniel told the young man. "The one inside your friend was fully mature."

"What does that matter?" Higgie snarled. "One of those _things_ is inside of his stomach, and you knew all along!"

"If the larva was taken out, Teal'c would die," Daniel snapped. "And besides, it can't control him from where it is. Teal'c is my friend; he won't hurt you."

Higgie looked doubtful, but he nodded and left it at that. It struck Daniel as something that was a little odd for a soldier to do. After all, militants were trained to be aggressive. That he was willing to back off was unusual.

Daniel wondered if it had something to do with the fact that the younger man traveled with The Doctor.

Everything burst into radiant green and white light, burning Daniel's eyes even after he closed them. After the light vanished, brilliance still dazzled the archeologist's eyes, not helping his headache in the least. He swayed, and nodded gratefully to Teal'c when the Jaffa steadied him.

Daniel's vision cleared, and he blinked in surprise as he beheld the Pandorica. It had been resealed, and was standing in a clearing that was just the right size. Jack and Sam were both slowly getting up from the ground, grimacing as their joints protested.

Maroxe was flat on his back, limbs waving in the air like a panicked turtle. He wobbled up to his feet, stumbled over to the Pandorica and placed his hand on its side. The circular patterns on the Pandorica lit up and seconds later the box split open, white radiance spilling out.

Daniel closed his eyes and felt his headache ease slightly. "Nice job," he complimented Maroxe as he opened them again.

"Thanks," Maroxe said, sounding irritated. "I've only just about wiped out the power."

"Then why do it in the first place?" Jack demanded, sounding quite peeved with the alien.

"I needed it in a place where it could get a clear shot upwards," Maroxe replied sardonically. "Kind of hard to do when you're stuck underneath Stonehenge."

"Couldn't you just get your special elevator to take it all the way to the surface?" Jack sounded equally scornful.

"Bio-programmed dirt can only do so much, you know."

"Bio-programmed _dirt_?"

"Alright, boys! Please!" The Doctor broke them up. "This is not the time for petty squabbling!"

"Hey, if I'm going out, might as well do it petty squabbling!" Maroxe frowned. "That didn't come out right."

"Try 'might as well do it with a petty squabble'," Jack suggested.

"Yeah, that works."

"Maroxe," The Doctor impatiently called for the other Time Lord's attention. Maroxe looked over compliantly. "Would you be able to do transport the Pandorica like that again?" The Doctor asked.

"Without disintegrating the Pandorica and whoever might be inside? No."

"Too bad," The Doctor frowned. "Could have been useful."

"And before anyone asks, my teleporter is out of the question," Maroxe said. "I've maxed-out its capacity."

"That thing of yours has a limit?" River asked scornfully.

Maroxe scowled at her.

"Did you have to piece together an entirely unique teleportation device out of nothing but 20th century earth technology?" he demanded. "No, didn't think so."

"You don't need to get so touchy about it," River chuckled, the phrase _boys and their toys_ drifting across her mind.

The Doctor was studying Daniel intently. Warily, Daniel looked him back in the eye.

"You're feeling better," The Doctor stated matter-of-factly. "Did someone get you medicine?"

"Medicine?" Daniel heard Sam echo.

"Daniel got himself a concussion," Jack explained.

"So did you, Jack," Daniel pointed out.

He looked back over at The Doctor. "No, I haven't had anything."

"And yet your concussion is fading," The Doctor said. "That's not possible."

He paused and looked over at the Pandorica. "The restoration field, of course!" The Doctor looked from the Pandorica to Daniel as he continued: "You were dead when the Pandorica opened. The restoration field hit you and revived you, but it doesn't have to power to completely restore you to full health."

"Really?" Maroxe was looking at Daniel with keen interest. "How dead are we talking?"

"Completely and utterly dead," The Doctor told him.

"Wow. Didn't know my little box could that. Except," Maroxe added, "the Pandorica can't bring back something without a scan of its living DNA. I checked the databanks and Dr. Jackson hadn't set a finger on the Pandorica before he died. Because of that, the Pandorica couldn't have brought him back."

"Oh, but it could have," The Doctor said, grinning. "This is Dr. Daniel Jackson. In a year from now, he ascends to a higher plane of existence-"

"WHAT?" the stunned and bewildered word arose from the throats of Daniel, Jack, and Sam, Jack being the loudest, and Teal'c looked disturbed by The Doctor's words.

The Doctor looked around at everyone as he excitedly began to explain. "Dr. Jackson was dead, _completely dead_. A piece of solid rock fell maybe ten feet or more and hit him in the head, killing him instantly. There wasn't a spark of life left in him, but the Pandorica somehow managed to revive him. Now, Amy, Maroxe brought you back."

"Yeah," Amy nodded.

"And since he built the Pandorica, the technology he used to bring you back to life must have been similar?"

"Quite right," Maroxe confirmed.

"Was Amy completely dead when you restored her?" The Doctor asked.

"No," Maroxe replied. "Her body hadn't completely shut itself down yet, and I was able to freeze it like that until I got a scan of her living DNA."

"Could you have done it without the scan?"

"Possibly."

"Could you have done it if she was completely dead and you did have the scan?"

"With anything I've ever made, no."

"Doctor, what are you getting at?" River asked impatiently.

The Doctor beamed, looking like an elated child.

"The reason the Pandorica was able to bring Dr. Jackson back was because of his ascension. Ascended beings don't exist on a proper flow of time. They can go wherever and whenever they want. Because of that, an ascended being can exist at multiple points in history, before and after their corporeal existence."

"But if the Pandorica has a scan of his ascended DNA, why didn't it bring him back as one?" Maroxe asked.

"Funny thing about ascended DNA," The Doctor said. "It stays the same. The Pandorica wouldn't know the difference between ascended and natural DNA, and so it would assume that it was the latter. _But_… how can you bring back an ascended being when ascended beings have never existed?"

"Okay, tell us," Amy said.

The Doctor paused for a second before launching off again. "When the TARDIS blew up, it caused a total even collapse, a time explosion. And that explosion blasted every atom at every moment in the universe, _except_…"

He grinned, waiting for one of them to figure it out.

"Except inside the Pandorica," Amy said.

"The perfect prison," The Doctor said. "And inside it, perfectly preserved, are a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like… like cloning a body from a single cell. And we've got the bumper family pack."

"No, no," Rory shook his head, "too fast, I'm not getting it."

_You and me both, Rory,_ Daniel agreed. He could feel his headache getting worse again.

"The box contains a memory, and the light _transmits_ the memory," The Doctor explained. "That's how we're going to do it."

"Do what?" Amy asked.

"Relight the fire," The Doctor replied. "Reboot the universe."

"Doctor, you're being completely ridiculous," River snapped. "The Pandorica restored one man, who could fall over and die again at any moment. If it can't even reboot a single lifeform properly, how's it going to reboot the whole of reality?"

"What if we gave it a moment of infinite power?" The Doctor suggested. "What if we could transmit the light of the Pandorica to every particle in space and time simultaneously?"

"Well, that would be lovely, dear," River said scornfully, "but we can't, because it's completely impossible!"

"Ah, no, you see," The Doctor said, and tapped her nose as he added, "It's _almost_ completely impossible. One spark is all we need."

"For what?" River asked.

"Big Bang 2," The Doctor grinned.

"Oh, please, Doctor, don't tell me you believe that explosion-made-the-universe nonsense, do you?" Maroxe scoffed.

"Of course not," The Doctor said indignantly. "I'm just putting it in terms that they'll understand."

"How considerate of you," Rory said dryly.

"All right, all right, enough chatter!" Maroxe shouted. "Doctor, we've got a universe to restore!"

The Doctor joined Maroxe by the Pandorica. The two Time Lords conversed quietly, and The Doctor leaned into the Pandorica.

Maroxe leaned over his shoulder, apparently trying to say something helpful. The Doctor came back out of the Pandorica, hitting his head on the top of it, and Maroxe threw his head back and laughed.

**~!~!~!**

**A\N: Let the "_Big Bang_" quotes begin! Cos really, the Moff explained it the best. How could I do it any better?**

**By the way, that whole ascended DNA bit and the thing about time travel? That's my own head canon. It makes sense to me.**


	30. Guilt

**A\N: Ho hey, another note from me.**

**This is directed towards _Starts With A D_, because I can't reply to you with a private message. Anyhow, you were asking about the whole "second sun" thing... The idea for that is, unlike in _The Big Bang_, the universe is undone gradually, like water going down a drain, instead of all at once. Since Earth is at the heart of the explosion, the last light to go out, Earth's natural sun is still there. Hence, two suns. Well, a sun and a TARDIS, actually.**

**Hope that clears things up for you, _Starts With A _D!**

**~!~!~!**

Sam's nerves still felt all tingly after that wacky teleportation trip she, Jack, Maroxe, and the Pandorica had taken.

She had been fascinated by The Doctor's reasoning for Daniel's resurrection (figures he'd die when Sam wasn't looking), and using that to reach a conclusion on how to save reality. Or, as he put it, reboot the universe.

She had been pretty freaked out by what The Doctor has said about Daniel ascending, though. Sam remembered Orlin, and how he had been punished for making a single mistake. She also remembered the final thought he had left in her mind before he rejoined his people:_ You will never see me again, Sam_.

The thought of Daniel becoming like Orlin-Sam knew his curiosity would drive him to it-was disturbing for her to consider.

Things had moved along quickly, then, and Sam had been close enough to hear the brief exchange between Maroxe and The Doctor by the Pandorica.

Maroxe had asked the Doctor, "She screaming?"

The Doctor quietly responded, "No, I can't feel her."

"EP?"

"Yeah."

The Doctor had then leaned into the Pandorica, and Maroxe peered over his shoulder and said, "Mind you don't hit your-"

The Doctor came back out so as to hear Maroxe better, and hit his head on the Pandorica.

"-head," Maroxe finished, and burst out laughing.

Sam had to admit, a smile had flitted across her face when Maroxe had laughed. It was the sound of honest joviality, untainted by any hints of the madness that was said to be such a part of his personality.

Before the Time Lords got to work, Sam approached them. "Need any help?" she asked.

"No," said Maroxe, just as The Doctor said, "Yes."

They looked at each other.

"There's not that much room in there," Maroxe said as he pointed a thumb at the Pandorica. "One's fine, two's pushing it, but three?" Maroxe's eyebrows arched up into his hairline. "Three's not a crowd, three's claustrophobic!"

"Alright," The Doctor nodded as he conceded to Maroxe's point. He poked his head into the Pandorica again. "What type of energy source do you have for this?"

"Oh, it's a Type 473B," Maroxe replied. "Sort of a cross between a dalekanium generator and a Zero Point Module, but with a Time Lord flair to it."

Sam sighed and walked away. She knew when she was unwelcome-and when she was being ignored. She started to walk back over to her team, but Maroxe called after her and she stopped and turned around.

He trotted up to her. "Major Carter, I think I ought to explain something to you."

"Which something are we referring to?" Sam asked, her tone biting.

Maroxe looked at her a moment, expression hurt, before saying: "Brigadier Collins and Colonel Gregson."

Sam's breath caught before she had a chance to catch herself. "What about them?" she asked.

"I thought you would want to know what happened to them," Maroxe told her. "You see, in my cover as a member of UNIT, I'm a technological scientist. I build prototype technologies for the benefits of UNIT."

"You're a gadget man," Sam said flatly.

"Basically, yeah," Maroxe said with a shrug. "I always have been. Anyway, I was developing a teleportation technology of sorts, that wouldn't really take a person to another place so much as to another dimension."

"A device that transports a person to alternate dimensions?" Sam's eyebrows rose, and she couldn't help but feel impressed.

"Yes. It was still largely experimental, but it was mandatory that every member of UNIT carry one of these devices with them. If the carrier were to die, the device would automatically shift him to another dimension where the body would wait until it was retrieved by UNIT. That's what happened with Colonel Gregson."

Sam's heart fell. "Then Colonel Gregson is dead," she said.

"I'm afraid so, Major," Maroxe replied. "However, Brigadier Collins wasn't. He manually shifted himself out of this dimension, and was still alive when we retrieved him. That's what my job is: finding and bringing back the soldiers that get shifted out."

"I see," Sam said. She was intrigued by the technology, and by its benefits, but right now she felt just a little too numb to care that much.

"I thought you should know," Maroxe said. "I saw your reaction when the plastic one mentioned that Gregson and Collins had been in the tent."

Sam nodded. "His name's Rory, you know," she told Maroxe.

"Yeah, I know, but I like calling him what I call him. He doesn't care, anyhow."

Apparently deciding that he had spoken with Sam for long enough, Maroxe turned around and rejoined The Doctor over by the Pandorica.

Sam walked over to where her team was and stood in between Daniel and Jack. She noted Davis standing just a little further off. The man still wasn't comfortable enough to consider himself one of the SGC crowd.

"More people are gone," Jack murmured next to her, looking grim.

Sam looked around and saw that Jack was right. More of the people _were_ gone. She did a quick headcount, totaling at fourteen, Hodges' body making it fifteen. That had to be less than a quarter than the highest number of people who had been there.

Maroxe had been right: this was going too fast.

Sam realized Jack was looking at her. "Sir?"

"What's the deal with Colonel Gregson and Brigadier Collins?" Jack asked for a second time.

"Oh…" Sam hesitated a moment, then explained everything that had happened. Jack winced as she described the pillars falling on Gregson and Collins, and his face grew dark when she reached the part where she left the Brigadier.

"Carter…"

"I know, Sir, we don't leave our people behind," Sam said tiredly, still feeling guilt over abandoning the man. "But he did order me, Sir."

Something in Jack's gaze softened, as though he understood Sam's turmoil. "It's okay, Carter," he told her. "Sounds like he got out anyway."

"Yeah, now he was never born," Sam said, her bitter tone impossible to miss.

Jack gave no response, and SG-1 drifted into silence.


	31. Fading Out

A triple head bonk (one against each other, and two separate on the ceiling) announced The Doctor and Maroxe's completion of whatever they had been doing.

"The Pandorica is ready," Maroxe intoned.

The Doctor winced. "Please don't say that."

Maroxe looked over at him with a puzzled expression.

"Ready for what?" River asked.

"Well, as The Doctor says it, Big Bang 2," Maroxe told her.

"We've wired your vortex manipulator into the Pandorica's controls," The Doctor said. "Now, if the two combined have enough power, we're going to fly the Pandorica right up into the explosion."

River was impressed.

"A restoration field powered by an exploding TARDIS," she said. "Oh, that's brilliant."

Davis' brow furrowed. "I don't get it," he said.

River turned to him. "The TARDIS is still burning," she explained. "It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica _into_ the explosion, right into the heart of the fire…"

"Then what?" Davis asked.

"Then let there be light," said River. "The light from the Pandorica… would explode everywhere at once."

"And would it work?" Davis inquired. "Would it save the universe?"

"Theoretically, yes," Maroxe nodded. "If we're wrong… well, we'll never live to know it."

He turned to completely face the Pandorica.

"The only question left to ask is this: who's going to fly the Pandorica up there?"

All fell silent, and became quite pensive.

Davis looked up. The clouds had mostly cleared, and the 'sun' hung low in the sky, dominating the expanse with its sheer size. _What do sailors do with a red sky in the middle of the day?_ Davis wondered.

"It looks like Gallifrey," a voice said next to him, and Davis started.

He looked over and saw Maroxe, who had moved over beside Davis while he had been looking up. Maroxe smiled in a melancholy way, the red sky above reflecting in his eyes.

"Now why does that make me sad?" the Time Lord asked himself quietly.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Rory asked, also looking up at the burning sky.

"The explosion's speeding up," The Doctor said. "Look around you."

Stonehenge was gone. Both of them were. There was no trace that they'd ever been there, no bare earth, no flattened grass.

Stonehenge was just… gone.

"History's unwinding," River said.

"So…" Rory walked up to the Pandorica and investigated The Doctor and Maroxe's work. "What exactly will happen to whoever pilots the box up into the TARDIS?"

"That's the catch," The Doctor admitted. "The cracks would all reseal, but the pilot would be trapped on the wrong side. They will never have been born."

"What about everyone who's already disappeared?" Davis asked.

"Oh, they come back," The Doctor said. "Unless they were taken by a Crack. Then, well, you'd better hope for a miracle."

"Of which there are plenty, and I ought to know," Maroxe said. His gaze turned more serious as he looked at the Pandorica, and he said for all to hear, "Whoever the pilot is will have to be fully aware of the fact that they will never be born. This is way beyond suicide mission."

There was a pause. Davis could see Colonel O'Neill straightening, and knew that he would volunteer. Heck, _all_ of SG-1 looked ready to climb into the giant box and go flying off to their never-be-borns.

Sometimes the courage of that team scared Davis.

Not as if others didn't look willing. All of UNIT looked like they were waiting for the word, though the younger men did seem a bit nervous. Even Harkness had the grim "I'll do it" look on his face.

Maroxe was unreadable, but he certainly didn't seem eager.

Amy, Rory, and River were all looking at The Doctor, who wore an expression of quiet resolution.

"Oh, speaking of cracks…" Maroxe looked at The Doctor. "I think I'm standing on one."

Acting purely on reflex, Davis leaped back. Nearly everyone else just about flew away from the Crack themselves, so Davis felt no embarrassment over his large reaction to the relatively small Crack.

Actually, relatively small was a bit of an exaggeration. The thing was _tiny_. The only indicator that it was even there was the soft light glowing against the bottom of Maroxe's boots.

"So, um," Maroxe said, looking down with a vaguely puzzled expression, "This is a problem."

"Bit of an understatement, don't ya think?" Jack asked.

"Well, I'm not quite sure what purpose running around in a blind panic would serve," Maroxe replied with a shrug. "Though, the idea is tempting. Never being born isn't exactly something that makes you dance with glee."

He lifted his hands up to his head, bunching them up in his hair. "Okay, okay. So this is bad. I can't exactly hop off it and make it all better, that isn't how it works. So what now, then?"

"Isn't there something that can neutralize the effect of the Crack?" Sam asked.

"It's a piece of fractured _time_, Major Carter," Maroxe snapped. "Not a dent on a fender. This needs a lot more than a new paintjob."

"The answer's no," Rory replied. "Once the light hits you, you're finished."

"Finished, that's me," Maroxe said. "I always knew the universe hated me for some reason."

"That's paranoia talking, Maroxe," Rory told him.

"Oh, be quiet, plastic one," Maroxe snapped. "I'm being unborn here, have a little pity."

"Thought you hated pity."

"I do! Well, that is… oh, never mind." Maroxe rocked back and forth on his feet, looking down at the Crack. "Huh. So I guess this is it. I'm actually going to die." He shivered, arms wrapping around himself. "I really didn't see this one coming."

"Don't talk like that Maroxe," The Doctor said. "You're going to survive this. There's a life waiting for you."

"Oh, right." Maroxe chuckled, hysteria tingeing the edges of it. "Prison. Cake. I suppose you'll just remember me, bring me back, ho hey, easy as pie." He started rocking again. "Heavens above, I never thought that one of these days I'd have to entrust my life with the Time Lord that hates my every cell." He paused, lips pursing. "Somehow, that isn't very assuring."

"Maroxe, you provided the way to save the universe," said The Doctor. "For this, I owe you one."

"Meaning…"

"Meaning that since you've already saved my life, it's time for me to save yours. Then we'll call it even."

Maroxe looked doubtful. "Well, we'll see about that," he said. He looked down at his feet again, and growled impatiently. "Plastic one!" he called.

"Yeah?" Rory answered.

"Toss me the sonic screwdriver," Maroxe said. "It's inside the Pandorica."

Rory picked up the device and held it in his hand. He looked up at Maroxe. "Why?" he asked.

"I'll give it back," Maroxe promised. "Just, please. Rory."

Rory hesitated, indecision flickering in his eyes. He made up his mind, and tossed the sonic screwdriver to Maroxe. The Time Lord caught it and pointed it at the ground. To Davis' alarm the Crack grew.

"Maroxe, what are you doing!" The Doctor shouted.

"If I'm going to die, I'm not going to waste my time panicking!" Maroxe snarled, screwdriver clenched in his fist. He stepped out onto the edge of the Crack.

"Maroxe…!" The Doctor stepped forward, eyes pleading. "Don't!"

"You're not stopping me, Time Lord!" Maroxe spat, and he leaped backwards, allowing himself to be swallowed up by the light.

"No!" The Doctor cried, running towards the Crack. It shrunk again, but didn't quite disappear. The Doctor knelt down in the grass and carefully picked up the sonic screwdriver.

"Maroxe," he said quietly, looking stunned.

Higgie walked up behind The Doctor and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ye can mourn him later, when the universe is safe," he said gently, repeating The Doctor's earlier words to him.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes," he said softly. "Yes, of course."

He started to stand back up, but froze, staring for some odd reason at Davis' feet.

"Major," he said. "The light."

Davis looked down and saw thin twines of light weaved around his shoes and wrapping themselves around his legs. All of the glowing strands originated from the crack.

"What the?" Davis moved away from the crack, but the bands of light didn't come off.

In fact, they were moving faster, already reaching his torso.

"What's happening to me?" Davis asked The Doctor, looking at him with a panic-struck face.

The Doctor looked back at him sadly.

"You're being erased from history," he said.

"E-erased?" Davis stuttered.

"Don't worry, Major, there's still hope," The Doctor told him. "Rory came back, so can you."

"Do you know?" Davis asked. "Do you _know_?"

The Doctor paused before quietly confessing, "No."

Davis closed his eyes. _I'll never be born. I'll never have a family, never join the Air Force, never be a part of the Stargate Program._

He opened his eyes again, and looked down at the light.

It had covered his torso, and was tangling itself around his fingers. Strange. It didn't hurt. He just felt sort of fuzzy.

"Paul," he said as the tendrils of light reached his face. "My name is Paul."

And he never was.


	32. Changing The Plan

Teal'c didn't know what to think.

One moment Major Davis had been standing there, swathed in light. And the next, he was… gone. Erased from history.

For the first time, Teal'c wondered what sort of life Davis had. Did he have brothers of sisters? Was he wed? Was he a father? Teal'c had never thought to ask.

Because before, it simply hadn't mattered.

And now that Davis was gone, Teal'c wondered. He could only hope that The Doctor had been right about Davis returning.

"Four more gone, Sir," Teal'c heard Sam tell O'Neill. "Sir, we're down to eight, and Hodges' body is gone, too."

"I know, Carter," Jack replied in grave undertones. Louder, he said, "Forgive me for sounding cold, folks, but we've gotta hurry. Who's our pilot?"

"Me," The Doctor said.

Before anyone could do anything to stop him, he went up to the Pandorica and sat inside it, strapping the vortex manipulator around his wrist.

"No, Doctor, you can't!" cried Amy. "You'll die!"

"Ah, don't worry about me," The Doctor smiled. Something in his gaze softened, and he said, "Amy, come here. I want to talk to you."

Everyone took the hint and distanced themselves from the Pandorica.

Teal'c watched Amy and The Doctor. The Doctor smiled, and even chuckled, but Teal'c could sense a feeling of great sadness in the man. He was saying his goodbyes.

"What about you, River?" Teal'c heard Rory ask of the woman.

River smiled in a melancholy way. "He doesn't know me yet," she said, tears shining in her eyes. "Now he never will."

Teal'c wondered what that could mean. He turned his attention back towards The Doctor and Amy. Amy's voice rose some, so Teal'c was able to hear her.

"But how can I remember them if they've never existed?" the young woman hissed.

"You brought Rory back, you can bring them back, too," The Doctor replied. "Remember them, and they'll be there. You won't need your imaginary friend anymore."

The Doctor leaned back into the chair, reaching for the button that would seal the Pandorica-and his fate.

But it seemed that there were other plans to be carried out.

"Now, wait just a minute, Doctor," General Price snapped as he marched up to the box. "You are not going _anywhere_, least of all to your needless death!"

"General-"

"Enough!" Price yanked the vortex manipulator off The Doctor's wrist and proceeded to haul The Doctor out of the Pandorica.

Well, he tried to, anyway.

The Doctor, loudly protesting, placed his hands and feet at their respective corners and locked his knees and elbows.

"General, let me go," he insisted. "You're going to let the whole universe be destroyed!"

"Goodness, Doctor, you're behaving like my grandson-when he was _five_!" Price gasped, still trying to pull the Time Lord out of the box. After a short struggle, he kicked The Doctor in the shin and pulled the yelping Time Lord out of the Pandorica.

"General, what is _wrong_ with you?" The Doctor demanded as he rubbed his sore leg.

Price stood in front of the open Pandorica with hands on hips.

"It is my top priority to make sure you live, Doctor," he said. "You are not going in the Pandorica. That's an order."

"An _order_?" The Doctor repeated. "General, you can't-"

"You never retired from UNIT, Doctor," Price cut him off, "and I outrank you."

The Doctor shook his head. "General, you can't do this," he said. "I have to take the Pandorica up there."

"No, you don't," Price told him. He stepped back and sat inside the Pandorica.

"Because no one is going up there but me."


	33. Pilot

"General, get out of there," The Doctor said. "I have to fly the Pandorica."

"What, so you can be a big hero?" General Price snapped. "Go out in a blaze of glory? I don't think so, Doctor."

"General-"

"The universe still needs you, Doctor," Price said. "Saving it once won't protect it forever. What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen and the Autons? What will happen to all the innocents if you're not there to protect them?"

The Doctor couldn't answer that.

"The reason I'm going up there is that I know it will do some good." Price picked up the vortex manipulator and carefully began to fasten it around his wrist.

"You've already figured out that the Autons took someone who was dear to me," he said. "What you didn't know was that person was my younger brother."

Price's fingers fumbled, and a haunted, guilty look came into his face. It was a look Jack recognized, for it was almost identical to the one that appeared on his own face whenever he thought of Charlie.

"He never would have joined the military, joined UNIT, if I hadn't pressured him into it," Price sighed, looking grieved. "It's my fault he's dead." He shook his head, making a choked sound. "The boy wanted to be a scholar! And I made him a soldier."

"It wasn't your fault, General," The Doctor said quietly.

"I forced him to make the decision!" Price cried. "Of course it's my fault!"

He looked down, focusing on the vortex manipulator as he struggled to regain his composure.

"But, General, Sir," Higgie stuttered. "If ye go up there, then I'll never… We'll never…"

"Ah, Higgie, my lad," Price spoke to the young man with an affection Jack hadn't heard before. "You'll have your grandfather back. An old great-uncle is no substitute for the real thing."

"Uncle?" Jack repeated, a little more sharply than he had meant to.

Higgie shuffled awkwardly before offering his explanation. "Ah… yes. Higgie's actually a nickname. My real name is Hugo Price." He held up a hand, quickly saying, "I know, I know, it goes against normal protocols, but this was supposed to be a single, uneventful mission. Besides, they couldn't find quick replacements for either of us, and so we promised to act as though we had never seen each other before today, so as to avoid having others think I would get special treatment from my uncle."

Jack nodded understanding. He wouldn't want to get a load of crap from everybody because he was related to his CO. Of course, if your great-uncle was a General, it was only to be expected.

He had to give the pair credit, though. He'd never come close to guessing their relation. It also helped that they looked pretty much nothing alike.

Price chuckled and said, "Besides, anyone who knows either me or Higgie would tell you I can be more harsh than any Training Instructor the boy's ever had!"

The young Price just smiled. The pleasant expression dropped quickly, however, and he turned back to the General. "Wes, please don't go," he begged.

"That's enough, Private," General Price said sharply.

Higgie stiffened, his blue eyes clearly agonized. "Yes, Sir."

"That's my boy." Price smiled at him briefly. "I'm going to miss you."

"Yes, Sir," Higgie choked out, tears in his eyes. "I'll miss you, too."

Jack felt sorry for the kid. He'd lost his best friend such a short time ago, and now he was going to lose his great-uncle as well. The worst part was that the odds were he'd never even remember him.

"General," The Doctor said, "if you're going to go, you had best do it now. We don't have much time left."

"Ah yes, of course." Price nodded and situated himself properly.

Before he sealed the Pandorica, The Doctor placed a hand on his arm. "Wesley."

Price looked up at the Time Lord.

"I'm ready to meet my Maker, Doctor," he said. "But you're still going to have to wait your turn."

The Doctor looked at Price for a long time before saying, "Thank you, Wesley. I won't forget you."

"Maximillian Price," Wesley said. "His name is Maximillian Price." He hesitated before asking, "Could… could you tell him about me?"

"It could bring you back, if telling him makes him remember you," The Doctor warned the man. "And then you would still lose him."

Wesley hesitated before saying, "Very well, I suppose you shan't tell him, then. I can't risk Maximillian's life again."

"I could find the younger version of yourself," The Doctor suggested. "Tell him to let your brother make up his own mind."

"Couldn't that alter time?" Wesley asked. "The scientists don't stop going on about that sort of thing."

"It could alter things," The Doctor admitted. "But Maximillian Price's death isn't a fixed point in time. I could change what happens, the future would alter, but nothing catastrophic would come of it. I can tell about these things."

"You're sure?"

"Yes," The Doctor said. "But first I would have to find a way to bring you back."

"Then this all can be done safely?" Wesley asked.

"I could say that it can, but since I don't know, I'd be lying." The Doctor smiled, joking, "And I think something like that would be considered an act of insubordination, wouldn't it?"

Wesley chuckled. "Don't want to get clapped in irons for lying to a General, hm?" He smiled, his gratitude evident. "Thank you, Doctor."

He sat back in the chair and looked at the vortex manipulator.

"I'm guessing that I just press the big blue button," he said.

The Doctor nodded. "Its flight is already preprogrammed."

"Then I suppose there is nothing left to keep me," Wesley said. He pressed the button and the Pandorica began to shake.

"Well, you know what they say," Wesley said as the constraints wrapped around him, "Geronimo."

The sides of the Pandorica slid shut. The box slowly rose into the air, spinning leisurely, until bolts of energy shot out of it and snapped into the air, somehow catapulting the Pandorica into the sky.

They all watched it shrink rapidly in the sky as it flew to the heart of the biggest explosion in history.

"We're not going to remember any of this, are we," Daniel said, looking over at the Doctor.

The Doctor shook his head. "Probably not. But… it's not quite impossible."

They each stood in their respective groups, only Harkness and Higgie standing alone, all watching the sky.

Jack looked over at his team, who all looked back.

"See ya later," was all Jack could think of to say.

Daniel smiled. "Sure, Jack."

Sam nodded. "Yes, Sir."

Teal'c dipped his head slowly. "Indeed, O'Neill."

They looked back up and watched as the sky shattered into countless shards of brilliant white light.


	34. Epilogue 1: Correct Location

Maroxe blinked around at his surroundings.

He was sitting in a corner in a small cell. He placed his hand on the cold black wall next to him.

Dwarf star alloy. Impregnable. Soundproof. And inescapable.

Maroxe sighed as two thousand years of _real_ memories surfaced, pushing those of the Pandorica timeline far back.

He had been inside of this cell for the past twenty years. He remembered the name that got him here: Manwell Taylor. Oh, big surprise there. Manwell had always been the one of the more mischievous identities he had taken on.

Maroxe smiled wryly to himself as he thought, _And there hasn't been one slice of cake!_

Maroxe then closed his eyes and groaned as he felt what else was back.

The Night, clawing at the bars of its mental cage, screaming for death and blood and chaos.

Maroxe could feel his mind fracturing, under the weight of the monster inside him, the guilt from the blood it had used his hands to spill, the madness bleeding through his thoughts.

"Hold on, tired one," he whispered to himself. "Just hold on."

For what, 'Manwell Taylor' had yet to find out.

**~!~!~!~!~!**

**Ah yes, Manwell Taylor, you _will_ be finding out. For this strange Time Lord's journey continues on in the story _Madness & Magnus_, just started here on .**


	35. Epilogue 2: Game Night

Higgie was lying on his couch, napping due to timelag. He jerked awake when loud knocking sounded from the door to his flat.

"Alright, alright, coming!" Higgie hollered. He jogged down the short hall and opened the door.

And Hugo Price stood agape.

There, wearing the jersey of his favorite rugby team, and carrying a six-pack of Guinness, was Ivan Hodges.

"Well, you gonna let me in?" Ivan asked.

"Hodg-Iv-" Higgie stuttered, still staring at his friend with his mouth hanging open.

Then, overcome with emotion, Higgie stepped forward and seized Ivan in a strong embrace.

"Ya know, it's really nice of you, but it's not actually necessary to crush my lungs as a form of greeting," Ivan gasped.

"How ye been?" Higgie asked, not relinquishing his hold.

"Fine," Ivan replied. "Now can you get off me?"

"Right." Higgie released his friend and stepped back. "Sorry."

Ivan lifted the six-pack and grinned. "I brought beer."

"Well, get in here, then!" Higgie laughed, stepping aside.

Ivan chortled and walked past him, whistling appreciatively when he saw the spread prepared for the games.

"I'm betting on the Lions," he said. "In my book, the big guys always win."

Higgie smiled oddly.

"I've always had a bit of sympathy for the underdog, myself," he said.

"Heh. So you, Higs." Ivan took a pair of beers from the pack before placing it in the fridge and tossed one to Higgie.

"So where's that buddy of yours, that Dr. McWhatshisface?" he queried.

"McSmithers." Higgie corrected. He shrugged. "Busy."

"You dunno, you mean."

Higgie just shrugged again, and twisted the cap off his beer. "Game should be starting soon," he said before taking a swig.

Ivan glanced at his watch. "Shoot! Five minutes ago!"

The friends grabbed their snacks and beers and headed off to watch the game.

**.**

**~!~!~!**

**A\N: For some reason the phrase, _Yes Dorothy, it was all a dream _keeps drifting through my mind... In Jack O'Neill's voice. The hey?**


	36. Epilogue 3: Late For It

"He's _late_," Amy muttered for the umpteenth time.

Rory sighed, and, drawing on his two thousand years of patience, turned to Amy, also for the umpteenth time.

"Don't worry, Amy, he'll be here," he whispered to her placatingly.

"Over an hour, Rory!" Amy hissed. "It's my _wedding_, and the Lord of _Time_ is _late_ for it!"

"Sh, Amy," Rory shushed her, noticing they were getting some odd glances. "You're making a scene."

"It's my _wedding_, Rory!" Amy exclaimed. "He's not supposed to be late!"

"Amy…" Rory was painfully aware of the open stares he and Amy were now receiving for her sudden outburst.

"Rory!" Amy snapped impatiently, "This is important!"

"I know, Amy," Rory sighed.

Doctor this, Doctor that. Good grief, Rory couldn't even have his own wedding without The Doctor!

Rory looked away from Amy, and his gaze froze on the two glasses in front of him. One was a red wine glass, short and stout, the other a champagne flute, tall and thin. And they were shaking, tinking as they struck against each other.

Rory looked up sharply. "Amy."

Amy looked over at the glasses, and her face lit up with a radiant smile.

"It's him," she said happily.

Rory smiled back. His eyes roved the room as he sought out the Doctor's soon-to-be location. Balloons at the tables started swaying in a breeze, and the chandelier began to swing back and forth.

Amy stood up and called out with a broad smile, "Ladies and gentlemen, our special guest is arriving."

She looked more than just happy. She looked proven. That was when Rory remembered, everyone else here thought that 'The Raggedy Doctor' was all in Amy's head. And now his wife was going to show the world that her imaginary friend was real.

"Amelia, what's happening?" Mrs. Pond asked from where she sat next to Rory.

"It's The Doctor, Mum," Amy said. "My Raggedy Doctor."

"_Amelia_…"

But Amy was ignoring her, watching the swaying chandelier as she chanted, "Something old, something new, something borrowed… something blue."

And, as if the wedding rhyme had brought it into being, the TARDIS materialized inside the room.

Lifting her skirts, Amy climbed over the table, knocking over glasses and plates, and ran over to the TARDIS. Rory smiled to himself and rose to walk around the table instead.

Amy knocked on the blue floor impatiently, calling The Doctor. The doors swung open, and The Doctor poked his head out, adorned with a black top hat.

"Yes?"

"You're late," Amy scolded the Time Lord.

"Late? I'm not late!" The Doctor protested. "I came early!"

"No, you're late," Rory told him.

The Doctor beamed at him suddenly and bounded out of the TARDIS, wearing a coat and tails. He slapped Rory on the shoulder, exclaiming, "And a good day to you, the brand new… Mr. Pond!"

Rory grinned before stopping and looking over at The Doctor. "No! That's not how it works."

"Yeah it is," The Doctor said.

Rory looked over at Amy.

"Yeah, it is," he agreed.

"Excuse me, sir, but who exactly are you?" Amy's father stuttered.

"Oh! Yes, hello everyone," The Doctor turned as he waved at those present. "I'm Amy's imaginary friend."

As expected, the comment brought gasps.

"But don't worry," The Doctor continued as he leaned over and shook Augustus Pond's hand with a grin, "I came anyway."

Rory smiled as he draped an arm around Amy. His Amy, forever.

The Doctor went back up to the TARDIS to move it, saying with a chortle, "I only came for the dancing."

According to Amy, The Doctor's dancing was terrible. As soon as Rory was sure The Doctor couldn't hear, he joked that it was "terribly funny". That made Amy laugh.

The kids seemed to enjoy it The Doctor's drunkenly dancing, though, and even joined in with him.

Sitting at a table, the couple watched, both laughing. Rory leaned down and kissed Amy as he held her in his arms.

The evening passed in a joyous, tender blur. Every time Rory looked into his beloved's green eyes, he knew the two thousand year wait had been worth every second.

He was happy. Happy Mr. Pond.

And he knew that would never stop.


	37. Epilogue 4: The Office

Paul was working away in his office at the Pentagon, same as usual, when he stopped.

He stared at the computer in front of him, typing a report, and slowly turned his chair away. He stood up and walked over to his window.

It was gloriously sunny out today, and everything looked fresh and green and hopeful. The sight of the simplistic splendor took some of the weight of the battle against the Goa'uld off the Major's shoulders, and he smiled gratefully.

He felt happy. Happy to be alive. But he wasn't quite sure why.

Casting a final look outside, Paul smiled again.

"Thank you," he said, although he didn't know for sure just who he was directing the words at.

Major Paul Davis turned back around and returned to his work.


	38. Epilogue 5: Running An Errand

"Have a nice day," the clerk spoke to the old gentleman with the politeness he was paid to show.

The man sighed, wondering where the usual clerk was, the one with a good, old-fashioned, _personality._ "Thank you," he replied with the same level of courtesy as he took his purchases and left the bookstore.

He walked down the street as he carried his stack of new reference materials, heading for where he had parked his car. He stopped, however, when someone called his name.

"Maximillian Price?"

Maximillian turned and examined the man who had addressed him.

He looked very young, but something about him spoke of great wisdom. A prodigy, perhaps. His clothing was the strangest thing about him. Black slacks, dress shoes, a not quite white shirt, a brown tweed jacket, and a dark red bow tie.

The odd style didn't look bad by any means, but a man that young ought to be wearing jeans and a hoodie.

Maximillian nodded in acknowledgement of the strange lad. "Yes, I'm Professor Price," he said. "What can I do for you, young man?"

The stranger smiled for some reason. "Not exactly young," he said.

His gaze turned serious, and very, very sad. "I'm here to tell you about someone you should know, but you don't," he told Maximillian.

"I see," Maximillian said, even though he didn't. He lifted his stack of books. "I need to put these in my car, do you mind?"

"No, not at all," the man said politely, and it was genuine. He fell into step beside Maximillian as the older man resumed his walk.

"I don't know your name," Maximillian said.

"I'm The Doctor," the man told him.

"Thank you." _Is that even a proper name?_

They reached Maximillian's car, and the professor struggled to balance his books and pull out his keys at the same time.

The Doctor took a strange rod out of his jacket and pointed it at the lock on Price's door. With a loud buzz, the doors all unlocked.

The Doctor nodded to himself with an expression of satisfaction as he placed the device back in his pocket.

Maximillian stared at him.

"Are you in the habit of unlocking old mens' cars with newfangled gadgetry?" he asked.

The Doctor chuckled. "It's a sonic screwdriver. And no, I'm not in the habit of unlocking old mens' cars with newfangled gadgetry. Do you want your books in the front or back?"

"Front."

The Doctor opened the back door of Maximillian's car, and the man deposited his books. After locking his car again, (but not entirely sure that made any difference now) Maximillian and The Doctor turned and began to walk.

"So, who is it that you want to tell me about?" Maximillian asked, regarding the strange man with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

"Your older brother, General Wesley Price," The Doctor replied.

Maximillian froze and stared at the man. "I beg your pardon; my what?"

"He allowed himself to be completely erased from history in order to save the universe," The Doctor explained. "He wanted me to tell you about him."

Maximillian stood stunned. "I have an older brother?"

"Never had," The Doctor corrected. "But… if you remember him, he can come back. Though there are risks. For one, you could end up dying, but if I can convince the younger version of himself to allow you to pursue an academic career instead of joining the military, that shouldn't happen."

"Dying?"

"Yes. Before he flew up there to save the universe, you were dead. Had been for a long time. Actually refused to let me do it because he thought it could save you."

"Really."

"Really." The Doctor nodded. "But the truth is, more people die with Wesley gone than with him alive. The universe needs him back. But I can't do that without you."

Maximillian said nothing, trying to process what he was hearing.

"I have a whole life, you know."

"I know."

"A wife."

"I know."

"Sons and daughters."

"I know."

"Grandchildren."

"I know. I met one of them: Higgie, marvelous chap. Irish, as I recall."

Maximillian sighed. "You're asking me to give up everything," he said.

"Not everything," The Doctor replied. "Even in the reality where you… died… you still had that wife, you still had sons and daughters, you still had grandchildren-well, Higgie, anyway. The only thing that was really different was that you were a part of the military, and that you were, well, dead."

"Obviously." Maximillian shook his head. "I cannot believe I am having this conversation. If I could hear myself-which I can-I would say that I had gone insane."

"...But?"

"But…" Maximillian fell silent, blue eyes pensive as he looked down at the cobblestone road. For a long time neither he nor The Doctor spoke.

Then, at last, "Tell me about him."

The Doctor smiled, and Maximillian did not fail to catch the hint of admiration in his eyes. "Wesley was a leader," he began, "fiercely loyal to his men, and apparently a man no Training Instructor could hold a candle to…"

**.**

**~!~!~!**

**A/N: Meet Maximillian Price, a man whose world is about to turn itself on its ear. What will happen of it? No one knows.**


	39. Epilogue 6: Recall

Sam sighed as she entered the Gateroom. She had felt depressed-no, _guilty_ was more like it-for several days now. She couldn't shake herself out of it, and she didn't know why.

"You okay, Sam?" Daniel asked, naturally being the first to notice Sam's low mood.

"I'm fine, Daniel," Sam replied automatically. "Just… feelin' kinda blue lately."

"Orlin?" Daniel asked, blue eyes gentle and understanding.

Sam shook her head in the negative. "Nah, it's something else," she said. "Can't put my finger on it."

Daniel's brow furrowed, his sympathetic look bordering on puppy dog levels. The 'Gate began to spin. Daniel watched as the large ring of symbols rotated, thoughtful in expression.

"I feel as if I've forgotten something," he confessed. "Something important, but I can't remember what."

Jack looked at him, with obvious surprise. "I've been thinkin' the same thing," he said to Daniel.

"As have I," Teal'c nodded, and Sam added, "Me too."

They all looked at one another.

"Well, this is weird," Jack stated, feeling uncomfortable.

"Amnesia?" Sam wondered. "But no, that doesn't make sense, there are no blank areas in my memory. What about you guys?"

The reply was a unanimous negative.

"Huh. Well, maybe it's nothing," Daniel said uncertainly.

"I don't know, Daniel," Jack said, eyes narrowing as he watched the Stargate. "Something doesn't feel right."

Airwoman Sandra Barnes was the one closest to the phone when it rang, so naturally she was the one to answer it. Barnes lifted the phone off its hold and brought it up to her ear.

"SGC."

Her eyebrows lowered, and she frowned.

"I'm sorry, Sir, you're calling from where? …Yes, yes, I see. …How did you get this number, Sir? ...I'm sorry, Major Carter isn't available right now. …What? Sir, I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying. …Sir?"

Barnes' state of befuddlement grew as the person on the other end of the phone kept going on. Finally, she latched onto something she could understand, and cut in.

"You wish to speak with General Hammond? One moment, please, Sir."

She lowered the phone.

"General Hammond, Sir?"

General Hammond turned away from where he was watching SG-1 enter the Gateroom and faced Barnes. She straightened up just a tad more and said, "General, there's someone on the phone for you, Sir. Two men, actually, Sir. A Colonel Harry Gregson and a Brigadier Cole Collins, Sir."

General Hammond looked briefly confused, as he didn't recognize either of the two names, but nodded and uttered a polite, "Thank you, Airman," and took the phone.

He alternatively spoke and listened, until he became very still. Just as Sergeant Harriman declared that chevron seven was locked, General Hammond said, "Shut off the 'Gate, Sergeant."

Harriman paused a moment, looking over at Hammond with a confused expression. "Sir?"

"Now, Sergeant."

"Yes, Sir!" Sergeant Harriman quickly turned and deactivated the Stargate.

"Yes, thank you, I'll tell them," Hammond said into the phone before hanging up. He walked over to Sergeant Harriman and leaned over to the mic.

"General?" SG-1 was looking up at him in surprise, and Jack looked more than a little irritated as he spoke. "What's this about?"

"Two men called," Hammond told them. "They asked for you, Major Carter, in particular."

"Carter?" Jack glanced over at his 2IC for a moment before redirecting his gaze at General Hammond. "Why would two guys want to talk to Carter?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Hammond admitted. "They never said. They also didn't explain how they got the calling number of the SGC. All they did tell me was that they were members of something called UNIT."

"UNIT?" SG-1 echoed.

They looked at each other, puzzled.

"Now why does that sound familiar?" Daniel wondered.

"I was asking myself the same thing," Hammond said. "These men are British, too, going by their accents."

"Brits?" Jack looked over at Carter again. "This just keeps getting more and more interesting."

Sam just shrugged, as clueless as anyone else.

"Did they give their names?" Daniel asked Hammond.

"Yes," Hammond nodded. "Colonel Harry Gregson and Brigadier Cole Collins.

Sam gasped, her mouth falling open as her eyes grew wide. "Gregson and Collins," she whispered.

She stared at her confused teammates.

"Don't you remember?" she asked, memories pouring over her as she excitedly yammered away. "The Pandorica? Rory Williams and Amy? The Silurians? The Doctor? UNIT and Torchwood? River? The exploding TARDIS?"

Each of them reached expressions of dawning realization.

"It worked," Jack said in wonder.

Daniel looked over at Jack. "See you later?" he asked. "Was that all you had to say?"

Jack shrugged, and didn't answer.

They drifted into silence for a moment.

"I wonder if Hodges survived, too," Sam said.

"Or Kel'tar," Jack said grimly.

"Or if the Underhenge is even there," Daniel said.

"And the Silurians, Torchwood, and the rest of UNIT," Sam added.

"The Doctor and his friends," Jack contributed.

"Maroxe," Daniel said with some apprehension.

"Or General Price," Teal'c spoke last, bringing the others to silence.

"Well… we remember him," Daniel said. "Maybe he's alive, after all."

"We'll just have to find out," Sam said.

"Well, let's go, kids," Jack said brightly. "P7S-441 can wait. Right now we need to ask the General to arrange a small trip to jolly old England for us."

As one the team turned and exited the Gateroom, leaving the adventure on P7S-441 for another day.

_End_

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**~!~!~!**

**Thumbs up and internet cookies if you looked up P7S-441!**

**...Wow, I can't believe it's done. I've been working on this project since right before _The Big Bang_ aired on June 26th of 2010. I feel kind of melancholy, and kind of relieved. One story down, one story finished, and an infinite number more of them to go.**

**Buckle up, chaps: it's time to go forth boldly, and hopefully where no writer has gone before.**


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